There is more to politics than populism, Labor’s Shane Broad has argued after the party took a lashing over voting against mandatory minimum sentences for child sex offenders.
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“The question is what are we (politicians) here for?” the Braddon MHA said when he was asked if Labor’s stance on the issue was dumb politics.
“Are we here just to see the politics, or to see what’s right or wrong?”
Labor was hammered by the government and the police union over its Legislative Council voting stance, which helped defeat the bill.
The government portrayed Labor as soft on child sex offenders, which Labor denied.
“Labor has let down every Tasmanian who expects strong penalties for these abhorrent crimes,” Acting Attorney-General Matthew Groom said.
Victims’ advocate Steve Fisher expressed disappointment in the outcome, and said victims would continue to fight for law changes.
The Sexual Assault Support Service said: “Sentences need to reflect the magnitude of harm that child sexual abuse causes to victims and their families, and we feel that current sentences all too often do not do this.”
Lawyers largely agreed with Labor, arguing there was no evidence mandatory sentences acted as a deterrent in such cases.
Dr Broad said it was an issue where politics was getting in the way of the details.
“We’ve been painted as soft on crime, soft on paedophiles ... don’t want them locked up,” Dr Broad said.
“That’s just rubbish.
“Mandatory sentencing is the issue.
“Taking discretion away from the judiciary doesn’t work.”
He said the change the government wanted would have led to many more guilty pleas, forcing more victims into the “horrible process” of going through the courts.
He said the government was using a “pretty distinct strategy to try to wedge Labor”.
“It’s pretty crass politics.”
The Legislative Council also rejected a government move to remove a logging moratorium from certain forest areas.
Both issues are likely to form part of the government’s election campaign.
The two lost votes have been interpreted by some as increasing the chances of the government calling an early election, rather than waiting until March, when an election is due.