OPPOSITION police spokesman Jeremy Hanson has joined the police union’s call for an independent review of bail and sentencing laws in the ACT following Sunday’s horror crash that killed two teenagers.
He will move a motion in the Legislative Assembly today (October 11) calling on the ACT Labor-Greens government to conduct an independent review into sentencing and bail in the ACT and also move a motion of no confidence in Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury for failing to conduct the review.
The two teenage girls, aged 14 and 15, died at the scene of the collision – on the Monaro Highway at Hume – after the Toyota sedan they were riding in left the roadway, crashed through some temporary fencing and collided with a tree.
Police have charged a 16-year-old boy with two counts of culpable driving causing death, breaching bail, breaching a good behaviour order, driving as an unaccompanied learner, and failing to stop and render assistance.
“How many times do we need to see serious crimes being committed by offenders out on bail before the attorney-general acts,” Hanson said.
“We see too many perpetrators out on bail committing other violent offences and this tragic event on the weekend is just yet another example that clearly shows the system is not working as it should.
“Victims of crime and their families, the AFPA [Australian Federal Police Association] and even government backbench members have all called for a review of sentencing, but the Attorney-General is still in denial that we have systemic problems with the Justice System.
“The AFPA has described the Territory’s sentencing and bail processes as ‘fundamentally flawed and dangerously inadequate’. It is not good enough for the attorney-general to have his head in the sand while Canberrans pay the price.
“All members of the Assembly must look at what is happening in the ACT at the moment when it comes to sentencing and bail and realise it is not meeting community expectation.”
Hanson will also present three petitions on behalf of Tom McLuckie calling for sentencing guidelines for reckless motor-vehicle crimes, a review of ACT sentencing and a review of judicial appointments.
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