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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-03 Daily Xml
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CORONERS (RECOMMENDATIONS) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 29 October 2008. Page 462.)

The Hon. M. PARNELL (19:57): The Greens are pleased to be supporting this bill. At the outset I acknowledge the work of Chris Charles, the solicitor with the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, in preparing the case for this legislation. All members are familiar with dealing with community groups who know what is wrong with various aspects of the law, but it is rare for them to present us with a thorough, researched case for the precise law reform that is needed. In the case of Mr Charles and the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement they have just done that.

This bill is soundly based in two documents. The first document, the South Australian Coroner's Act 2003 and the Consequences for Prison Reform of Partial Implementation of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, is a report Mr Charles wrote; and the other document is the royal commission's own report into Aboriginal deaths in custody.

I first became aware of this issue last year at a brief ceremony on the steps of this parliament, when I, along with Mr Frank Lampard (Chairperson of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement), Neil Gillespie (CEO) and solicitor Chris Charles were presented with a copy of the formal complaint against the commonwealth government and the state government of South Australia for the continued breach of the convention on the elimination of racial discrimination to which Australia is a signatory. That complaint was forwarded to the appropriate international authorities.

On the steps, as we were talking informally about law and law reform, it came to my attention that this was some unfinished business out of the royal commission and that they were looking for a member of parliament who would move these recommendations. I would like to acknowledge our former colleague, the Hon. Sandra Kanck, who took up the cudgels, and the Hon. David Winderlich is seeing it through to its conclusion.

I am pleased that the Hon. Sandra Kanck took that step. I said to the people from the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement on the day that if for any reason she was not able to do so I would be happy to introduce the bill myself, but it is before us. I understand that the Hon. David Winderlich is in further discussions with the government about some of the detail in this bill, so perhaps we will not be voting on it today. However, I just wanted to take this opportunity to put on the record the Greens' support for these important amendments to the Coroners Act.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. Carmel Zollo.

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