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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-10-15 Daily Xml
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STANDING COUNCIL ON LAW AND JUSTICE

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee) (15:13): Can the Attorney-General please inform the house about the outcomes of last week's Standing Council on Law and Justice?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for his question. Last week, I attended the second meeting of the Standing Council on Law and Justice for 2013. The council is made of the commonwealth, state and territory attorneys-general, the commonwealth Minister for Justice and the New Zealand Minister for Justice. A critical issue of discussion was a greater national approach to tackle criminal gangs, because we know these gangs do not know any borders. This is a national issue affecting communities across the country.

At the council I raised the very important issue of South Australia Police and other state and territory law enforcement agencies having difficulties obtaining from financial institutions (in particular, banks) electronic information to assist us with unexplained wealth investigations. This information sharing should not be too arduous for Australian banks, given current technology.

I now intend to write to the banks who have indicated to SAPOL that they are unable to provide electronic records, and will continue my discussions with the commonwealth in order to secure their support for ensuring that this important issue is properly resolved.

I also raised with the commonwealth the importance of banning international members of the so-called Mongols Motorcycle Club from entering Australia. I spoke directly to the federal Attorney and justice minister, but I will now be writing to the Minister for Immigration and the Australian Federal Police stating my concerns and emphasising the importance of ensuring that these characters are kept out of the country.

In regard to other justice matters, building on from the passing of recent legislation to establish a fines enforcement agency in South Australia, the state government emphasised the importance of the commonwealth working with the states to allow more efficient and effective collection of unpaid fines. Access to records, such as employer and bank account details held by commonwealth agencies, including the ATO and Centrelink, is crucial for this task. Restricting overseas travel for individuals who have unpaid fines will be another important tool for tackling this problem.

Too often, fine defaulters pay their debts to the taxpayer last, and this is not good enough, and the government will continue to work to change this. Other issues that were discussed included an expression by me about concerns regarding the current classification regime for video games and the commonwealth's intention to establish a new standing council on law, crime and community safety. This council will bring together attorneys-general, police ministers and police commissioners.

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