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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-14 Daily Xml
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CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION (LOOTING) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Second reading.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (16:15): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I have addressed this bill in a previous session—it is a restored bill under the Constitution Act—and it was not my intention to reiterate my remarks, but the Hon. Robert Brokenshire has stressed to me how helpful that would be to him, therefore I will. However, I will, nonetheless, be brief because the President seems concerned.

The PRESIDENT: I was concerned that the Hon. Mr Brokenshire is not here to listen to you.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The bill seeks to amend the Criminal Law Consolidation Act to adopt aggravated penalties for looting in not only the circumstances where an emergency declaration is in force but also where there has been advice to put in place a bushfire action plan. This bill is an initiative of the member for Davenport (Hon. Iain Evans) and it has the strong support of the Liberal opposition.

As the honourable member explained in his second reading contribution in the other place, this bill was introduced in response to bushfires in South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria, where there were reports of people scavenging through half-burnt houses and businesses and stealing from them. The issue was reinforced in 2011, with disasters occurring throughout Australia, particularly Cyclone Yasi and the floods in Queensland. We could now, unfortunately, add to that list the Queensland and New South Wales floods of recent times.

It is a sad fact that during such times for communities, some people prey on the misfortunate and vulnerability of others by looting homes and businesses. Deputy Commissioner Ross Barnett, in Queensland, last year said:

One of the many pressures people face is uncertainty about the security of their property and homes and businesses and their incapacity to protect what they own.

I would reflect, though, that in the most recent disaster in Queensland, authorities were known to acknowledge the very positive contribution, particularly of young people, in their pitching in to produce sandbags to secure towns and homes. I think we need to be balanced here in that, whilst natural disasters do at times bring out the worst in people, they also often bring out the best. Nonetheless, it is incumbent on this parliament to protect people affected by such tragedies through the imposition of appropriate penalties for offences such as looting.

This bill does that by treating theft and robbery as aggravated offences when committed during an emergency situation. This would mean that the penalty for theft would increase from 10 years for a basic offence to 15 years for an aggravated offence and for robbery from 15 years to life imprisonment. In closing, I reiterate the opposition's support for the legislation, initially introduced by the Hon. Iain Evans in the other place, and commend the bill to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

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