HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-09-27 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

CRIMINAL APPEALS

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (16:17): My question is to the Attorney-General. Why did the government not direct the DPP to appeal the sentence in the case of convicted child sex offender Malcolm Fox, given that the ALP policy at the last election was to abolish suspended sentences for serious offences?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Attorney-General can choose to answer this if he wishes.

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Urban Development, Planning and the City of Adelaide, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Food Marketing) (16:18): I thank the deputy leader for that classy question. The answer to the question is this: in South Australia, we have an Office of the DPP.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Do you want the answer or not?

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Do you want the answer or not?

The SPEAKER: Order! I warn the Leader of the Opposition.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: The Office of the DPP is an independent statutory office. The Office of the DPP gives the director the discretion to make decisions in relation to whether to prosecute and whether to appeal.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Look, do you want to hear the answer or not? It gives the opportunity to the Director of Public Prosecutions to make that decision. The director has made that decision and I respect the director's decision, and it is his decision to make, not mine. Furthermore, I understand that the director has spent some time speaking to the individual concerned in this matter and, I believe, to other members of that individual's family, explaining the process to them. I think they are the people who deserve an explanation from the DPP, and they have had it.

Mr WILLIAMS: Supplementary question.

The SPEAKER: Order! No supplementaries: question time has finished.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT