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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-11-19 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

PAROLE

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Gambling, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:04): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I wish to advise that Executive Council has recommended to the Governor that two convicted murderers be refused parole. James David Watson and David Andrew Mathew Millar are both serving mandatory life sentences. Their crimes are heinous.

I am informed that James David Watson had consumed alcohol, and possibly drugs, before attacking a 14 year old schoolgirl at Elizabeth Downs in September 1985. At his trial, the court heard that Watson had physically and sexually assaulted his victim in a concrete storm drain before strangling her to death. During sentencing, Justice Olsson said his crime was 'a terrible thing'. He continued:

An innocent girl only 14 years of age who apparently had done nothing to invite your attentions was forced into a drain, undressed, brutally assaulted and manually strangled in the course of an attempted perpetration of a rape upon her...There can be no doubt that this offence must be placed in the most serious category.

Watson was sentenced to a nonparole period of 24 years. That was later slashed to 16 years, four months and seven days under truth in sentencing laws—a policy introduced by the former Liberal government.

Watson's minimum term expired in January 2002 and he has made six applications to be released. Five of those have been knocked back on the advice of Executive Council, and the other application was declined by the Parole Board in 2007. After careful consideration of the facts, Executive Council has determined that it is not in the public interest to recommend that Watson be released into the community.

I am informed that David Andrew Mathew Millar was an amphetamine addict who repeatedly stabbed his girlfriend in August 1990. His Honour Justice Mohr said the following:

Having inflicted all of those wounds you apparently left the room for a relatively short time, came back into it and she was then almost dead, described as being in a moribund state, bleeding quite profusely. You took to her again with a knife and cut her throat, cut the strap off her handbag and tied it around her neck, tightly, so as, if no other cause of death had ensued, it would have strangled her.

...I cannot overlook the second attack on this unfortunate woman.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There will be order. The minister.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you sir.

...I cannot overlook the second attack on this unfortunate woman. There is little doubt that had you reacted in another way and caused her to receive medical attention after the first onslaught she would probably have survived, albeit with grievous wounds.

Millar was sentenced to a minimum of 21 years, which was later reduced to 13 years, seven months and 27 days under the Liberals' truth in sentencing laws. The nonparole period expired in April 2004. This is the second time—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Attorney and the member for Bragg!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This is the second time—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Bragg is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This is the second time Millar has applied to be released and the second time that Executive Council has recommended he stay in. Once again, the recommendation followed close examination of all the circumstances of the case, and Executive Council has determined that it is not in the public interest to release this prisoner.

The Rann government has been the only government in Australia to reject Parole Board recommendations in the public interest. The Rann government makes no apologies for prioritising the rights of victims, not criminals. The opposition believes that the government is wrong to knock back the recommendations of the Parole Board.

Mr Williams: That is a baseless claim, Tom, and you know it.

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop!

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: Read Hansard.

The SPEAKER: The Attorney!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: These decisions are taken very seriously and, unlike the opposition, this government will not simply rubber stamp Parole Board recommendations.

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