Changes proposed for the state’s parole system threaten to make the community less safe, Liberty Victoria warned today.
“We strongly agree with some proposals for Parole reform while there are others that we firmly oppose,” said Liberty President Jane Dixon SC. “We take issue with the premise that community safety is to be achieved through refusing a greater number of applicants for parole. This will result in those prisoners serving longer periods of imprisonment and consequently having a shorter period of supervision on parole.”
Longer jail terms for serious offences do not mean a safer community but may have the reverse effect, Liberty Victoria warned today.
“They may have a simplistic appeal, especially when parties are clamouring for public attention as a State election looms, but there is no evidence that they lead to a more secure community,” said Liberty president Jane Dixon SC.
Liberty Victoria today attacked new government proposals to dilute protections against racist speech.
Liberty President, Jane Dixon SC, said that ‘freedom of speech is a fundamental value in a pluralistic and democratic society. At the same time, however, international and common law recognizes that this freedom has limits’.
The Attorney-General, Senator George Brandis, has proposed that existing legal protections against insulting, offensive and humiliating speech based on race and ethnic origin should be repealed.
