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00:00:00
S1: I'm delighted to say. Queensland's Attorney-General has instructed an appeal to be launched against the sentence given to William Clyde Evans in the Cairns District Court, September 25th this year. Evans was convicted of eight child related sex offenders, including an offence committed whilst on bail. It's the latest in a series of sentence appeals the A-G has ordered. Yesterday, of course, we saw one that was successful. The youth who stabbed Army veteran Chris Sanders, a friend of this program, had his sentence increased the convictions and the conviction has been recorded after appeal. Attorney-General Deb Frecklington joins me now. Attorney-General, on behalf of the listeners of this program, thank you for what you did there.
00:00:38
S2: Oh, well, thank you, Gary, and thank you to your listeners who, you know, like Chris, um, have really just suffered because of the increase in crime in the last decade. Um, you know, with Chris's matter. Gary, uh, you know, I was horrified by the circumstances of that offence in the first place. I mean, here he is. He's a, um, an upstanding citizen. He's an Army veteran. Uh, you know, going about his business, going to a shopping center and gets viciously, you know, viciously stabbed in a completely unprovoked attack. Um, now, I appealed that decision because it just didn't make community expectations. And, I mean, but we've got to be really clear about it to the offender against Mr. Sanders or Chris was charged under the former weak laws of labor, um, and sentenced under that. So no conviction was recorded. Um, you know, and it was Mr. Sanders who or Chris who actually reached out to us when we were in opposition. So, you know, he was also, you know, one of these amazing victims who stood up on behalf of victims of crime and said, something's going to happen.
00:01:46
S1: Yeah. And I'm with him on that. And Deb Frecklington, you no doubt have seen and heard my comments about this. I want this fixed yesterday, and I know you've got to work your way through it deliberately because you're the attorney general. We're just right behind you. We want it to happen. You're going to appeal this matter on the on the Evans case. I guess that's one thing you probably don't want to talk about because you're going to go through a process. But why in general are you appealing this? I mean, the laws have got to be so they're so weak. They've they've failed to meet community expectations. You've got to go back and try and retrofit a better outcome for the community.
00:02:22
S2: Well, look, you know, the community expects a certain thing to happen. Uh, you know, when when wrong is done by someone, you know, they certainly expect, uh, for their matter to follow through the courts and be dealt with appropriately. Now, the justice system will never please everyone, and it certainly won't, no matter. You know, uh, you know, no matter what the circumstances of each individual matter. But what we did do is we went to
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the election almost 12 months ago now, and we said that we do everything we could to drive victim numbers down, to drive crime down in this great state of a house. And slowly but surely that is happening. We've seen the numbers, you know, going down. More needs to be done. We know that. Um, but it's matters like the Sanders appeal that that has been successful. And, um, and I am very pleased that it was successful because now the community can see that the decision that we, none of us were satisfied with has been, um, changed, uh, and a conviction has been recorded. Uh, now, I don't wish to talk about any of the other appeals.
00:03:30
S1: No, no, no. And I get that I understand I understand that.
00:03:34
S2: But I can say to your listeners, though, look, the the matter, um, of William Clyde, uh, you know, Clyde Evans, uh, the Cairns matter that you just referred to. I mean, I did consider that sentence handed down to be manifestly inadequate and didn't meet community expectations. Um, and that's exactly why I've instructed the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to lodge that appeal against the sentence handed down by the Cairns District Court. So when, um, these matters are brought to me, uh, and, you know, the decision is made to do an appeal. It is a very serious decision. And it's not a power I use. You know, I take lightly. It is something that we need to be serious about. But what we need to make sure is that sentences handed down by the courts meet community expectations.
00:04:22
S1: I think that's right. And the community will back you in Attorney General all the way through on this. And as I said, there's a lot of impatience. And I'm just verbalizing that impatience that we want to see these tougher laws and the new laws you brought in, you've had to sort of re re fabricate parts of it or improve further the legislation and go for it, because we don't want people who do bad by others out on the streets easily. The system, though is is cumbersome isn't it? I mean, I get it, you're the Minister for justice, so you call it the justice system, but it doesn't feel like a lot of justice for a lot of people. It's a legal system. Victims are still being ignored. In in in in the system, they're just evidence and I don't think they're well treated. We've got to improve that surely.
00:05:06
S2: Well, look, without a doubt. And that's why we've, you know, putting so much investment into the victim support system. We've got the first ever dedicated minister for victims. And we are making sure that throughout the process, these victims are being you know, we don't want to see more victims, but the victims that are going through the process that they have access to better and more support services, which is why we're investing in that. Now, the government has said we will act. We are continuing to act. We're doing everything we can to drive down those victim numbers, uh, to ensure that Queenslanders, you know, do feel safer in their homes. Uh, you know, when we see the statistics of, for example, motor vehicle theft that doubled in the decade under labour, you know, unlawful entry with intent increased by 50% under Labour. We are doing everything we can through adult crime, adult time, changes in the laws. We said if we've got to do more to those laws, we will. Um, because the community expect and have a right to be feel safe in their own homes. And that's exactly why the government is driven each and every day. You know, we've got a premier that is driven by ensuring that Queensland is the best state that we can live in. And, you know, but you have to remember, we're cleaning up a decade of decline under the former labor government.
00:06:34
S1: Oh, no. No. Attorney-General, it's it's 35 years. I'm sorry I know, I know, I know there were a couple of moments of Liberal National government in the last 35 years, but this really is a judiciary appointed since 1989 that's bent left. It's gone down the left pathway. It's it's decided that really frankly, the accused have got more rights than the victims. These are the sorts of observations that I can make to you, because I've been watching this for a long time. It's been in decline a long time.
00:07:05
S2: Yeah, well, look, what we're doing is doing everything we can to ensure that victims are looked after through the system. That, by our stronger laws, is sending a very clear indication to the to the courts. We are giving every tool to the courts for stronger sentences. Uh, and some of the figures that we're seeing out of our courts across Queensland are that those sentences, particularly for juveniles, are getting tougher and longer. Now, um, the reason why we are pleased with this appeal decision that was successful for Chris Sanders is that a conviction in that that wasn't recorded originally is now being recorded for that offender. Uh, now you've got to remember as well, that's an offender who basically gave the finger to people and said, you know, I'm now famous, but that he has got a conviction recorded for that offence against Chris, as should have happened in the first place. You know, it does set a precedent for the sentences going forward, and that is why I'm very pleased with the result of that appeal.
00:08:14
S1: Yeah. No, I agree 100%. So Queensland Police Service is now admitting there's been some exaggerations in the fall of victim numbers blamed human error. The victim data claimed a 10.8% reduction in statewide victim numbers between January and September this year, but apparently the actual reduction in victim numbers was 6.5. There's been a reduction, but there's been a human error. That'd be a bit frustrating, wouldn't it?
00:08:40
S2: Well, look, um, the police minister has been. As soon as he's found out about that, he's stood up in the Queensland Parliament today and gave.
00:08:47
S1: Yeah, he's a good.
00:08:48
S2: Man in relation to that. Yeah. No, he's he's doing an incredible job. Dan Purdy as
police minister. What, what whilst there has been that human error in the data, and that will be rectified as soon as possible. Uh, but what we have seen is a reduction of 6.5%, uh, in crime. Now people will say that's not enough. Yep. No, we need to continue to work. Um, and there are green shoots. We know that. But a reduction of 6.5% of when you go to a barbecue and people say, you know, we actually are starting to feel safer because we know that the extra police that are out there on the streets, you know, the intensive flying squads that the police minister has put in, uh, to ensure that police are given the tools and the resources that they, you know, that they need to catch these people who are doing the wrong thing. So, so yes, there has been a human error in relation to the police data. It's been rectified. The police minister is doing everything he can to make sure that that's fixed. But what it does show is that the reduction of 6.5% is a step in the right direction.
00:09:53
S1: Yeah, no doubt about it. He fixed that up real fast. Now, look, I guess Deb Frecklington, as I said, I think it's 35 years of break in the system. Is it going to take 35 years to fix this, to get it, to get it the way Queenslanders expected? It's not that we want everybody to be up literally, figuratively hung for everything, but we do want people to be properly dealt with. If you do something bad, most people are good. If you do something bad, there should be a consequence. Is it going to take how much longer?
00:10:22
S2: Well, our first piece of legislation was a making Queensland safer laws. Adult crime, adult time. We've said we're going to continue to change the laws as required. We're going to continue to give those tools to the courts to ensure that we have got tougher sentencing, that we're sending a clear message. But importantly, Gary, as well, we're also doing that early intervention, you know, fixing the education system, fixing the health system, getting these young kids, you know, out of, you know, off the streets and into some social housing, which the former government failed to treat any of those symptoms of what was going wrong. So it is a it is a big issue. We've been elected with a mandate to fix the major crises in Queensland crime, health, housing. We need to make sure that we continue to be a good government doing what we said we're going to do. And David Crisafulli is the premier of this state, is doing a fantastic job ensuring that the, you know, the rights of victims and the rights of Queenslanders are put first.
00:11:23
S1: Well, as you know, Attorney General, I'll keep the pressure on you because I have high expectations.
00:11:28
S2: Gary, that's no well that's good. Um, but, you know, we have to you know, we have to continue to work on behalf of Queenslanders. And that's what we do each and every day. But thank you for your help and thank you to your listeners as well.
00:11:40
S1: Thanks for having our back, attorney General. You've done well. Congratulations. Deborah. Deb Frecklington is the Attorney-General of Queensland. She has done well. I'll pay credit where it's due. I'll offer criticism where I think it's due to. But you might have your own thought. 13882 29 minutes to five.