JEREMY Hanson says that after many sickening incidents of unprovoked attacks in our city the Canberra Liberals have announced they will introduce specific “Coward’s Punch” legislation for the ACT.

“It is clear that there really is a problem with unprovoked and extremely violent assaults. It is also clear that the community expects us to deal with it,” Jeremy said.

“The question about whether existing laws are enough has been discussed in all the jurisdictions that have addressed this issue, and all those jurisdictions realised the law needed to change.

“Our laws match the intent of other states, but they do differ in some respects which I think make our laws even stronger. For example, the NSW response requires a person to be intoxicated. Frankly, I don’t care whether they are drunk, drugged, taking steroids or stone cold sober – if they launch an unprovoked attack, they will face very serious consequences.

“In the worst case they will face 25 years in jail if they cause death from an unprovoked attack. For all other offences, a coward’s punch will be regarded as an aggravating factor, with stiffer penalties across the board.

“Enough is enough. This senseless, cowardly violence has to stop. I will stand up for the victims of these crimes and I ask the other members of the government to support these changes for the victims and our entire community,” concluded Mr Hanson.