20 February 2025
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (12:18): I rise to speak on the Statutes Amendment (Attorney-General's Portfolio and Other Justice Measures) Bill. The Greens will support this bill, but we do have some concerns about a number of the provisions, and I might ask some questions about those at the committee stage. The bill contains a number of minor and technical amendments, most of which the Greens support and we understand the rationale; however, there are two provisions of note that I wish to comment on.
The first is the amendment to the Correctional Services Act found in part 3 of the bill that allows the Parole Board to impose new conditions where there has been no breach of parole. It is my understanding that the Parole Board asked for this change and that this power will not be used often, but the Greens are concerned that there is no test or threshold that has to be met before a new condition can be added.
Once this new bail condition is added, the usual processes around parole apply and a person impacted has a chance to challenge the new condition. However, I am concerned that in the absence of any breach of parole, I am struggling to envisage circumstances where additional parole conditions would be needed and could not be addressed through other mechanisms. It gives the Parole Board a very wideranging power that despite assurances it will not be used often, but in particular hypothetical situations, we simply do not know how or how often this power will be used, and that is of concern. We are giving very broad, wideranging powers, and the precise rationale for the change I do not think has been made clear by the government.
Secondly, in regard to part 11, I am pleased to see the government cracking down on copper theft from rail infrastructure and clarifying this provision; however, studies show that harsher penalties do not work to reduce crime. The Greens do recognise that copper theft is an issue and, as is the case of theft from rail infrastructure, it has the potential to cause hazards and delays, but that does not change the fact that harsher penalties do not work.
There is also a significant problem in our state at the moment with copper theft from construction sites. This, indeed, is an issue that has been raised with me. I have heard of South Australians who are building their own homes being in a situation where they do not want to leave the construction site unattended because they are in fear that someone is going to come and rip up the copper. Perhaps, it is worth the government investigating some sort of tracking or another mechanism to help prevent theft of this nature and looking at ways that they might keep track of copper.
Ultimately, the way to reduce crime is to minimise the circumstances in which they feel they are left with no other options. Social and affordable housing, free education, lower grocery prices, free and frequent public transport—all of these things reduce the risk of crime, particularly if the offending relates to stealing a material and selling it on for profit. I urge the government to consider that as part of its broader approach.
As I say, we are broadly supportive of a number of the provisions within the bill. There are a few elements that we have concerns about, and I will ask the Attorney-General some questions about those in the committee stage.