Tasmanian government says it is open to 'no body, no parole' reforms

Queensland, South Australia and Victoria already have the no body, no parole laws, which prevent a convicted murderer from obtaining parole unless the reveal the location of a murder victim's body.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the state was looking at the changes in NSW with great interest.

READ MORE: Gorge Hotel to face council for approval

"We are open to reform, where reform is well-argued, where reform is evidence based, then of course we are open to consider those reforms," he said.

"We will not make policy on the run, but of course any good reforms we can make, we will."

The laws have been labelled as a "populist measure" by Prisoners Legal Service chair Greg Barns SC, who said the laws are inherently unfair, and driven by government's obsessed with law and order campaigns.

"You have cases where a person denies their guilt, such as in the Sue Neil-Fraser case, and to prevent them from getting parole in those circumstances is patently unfair," Mr Barns said.

"You may also have cases where a person has got serious mental health issues, including memory loss, and again, it would be unfair to impose this law on them."

READ MORE: Darren Fairbrother's council plans unveiled

Neill-Fraser Support Group president Rosie Crumpton-Crook said those who are wrongly convicted of murder because they did not commit the crime would be unable to say where the body is, and would not be able to apply for parole.

She said confidence in the justice system would be necessary before such a law could be enacted.

"You would have to have faith that the conviction was sound for that law to be in place," Ms Crumpton-Crook said.

"Miscarriages of justice do happen, there are other people, not just Sue, where this has happened and a blanket rule like that would raise questions when there is a doubt regarding conviction," she said.

"It could be very damaging."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Follow us on Google News: The Examiner