Proposed Draconian Parole Law Changes

The Civil Liberties Council today called on the Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan to adopt the Dangerous Prisoner model for proposed draconian parole law changes announced by the Premier late last week.

QCCL Vice President Terry O’Gorman said that in Parliament last Thursday the Premier announced that the Police Minister is drafting laws to change the way parole for child killers or multiple murderers is dealt with.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said in Parliament that this category of offender will have their parole blocked from their eligibility date for “up to 10 years and there will be no limit on the number of declarations that can be issued to these prisoners which means that a further declaration could be issued for up to 10 years at the expiry of the previous declaration, and so on for decades”. (see Hansard 17 June 2021 at page 1922)

This power to block parole for decades after a person has already served 20 30 years or more in prison will be exercised by the President of the Queensland Parole Board sitting in secret and behind closed doors with the process totally lacking in transparency or accountability.

“If the test for rolling decades of parole denial is to be that the person still represents an unacceptable risk to the community, that should be decided by a Supreme Court Judge sitting in open Court not by a public official sitting in private” Mr O’Gorman said.

“This is what happens every week in the Queensland Supreme Court under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 where the Attorney General has to produce psychiatric and other reports to the Supreme Court to keep a sex offender in jail beyond the full term of their sentence if the Court is satisfied a person still represents a serious danger to the community” Mr O’Gorman said.

Mr O’Gorman said that it is the open and transparent Supreme Court sentencing process which sends prisoners to jail for murder. The same Supreme Court rigorous and open process should be employed to keep such prisoners in jail in respect of rejected parole applications, not the secretive and closed door mechanisms of the Parole Board.