Too easy on thugs
GOLD Coasters trying to understand how killers were able to target frightened partners while on bail will be stunned to learn the courts possibly had little choice.
They should also be concerned that instead of pulling out all stops to halt brutal men in their tracks, a brake is on the wheels of reform as the State Government and Opposition joust over how to deal with thugs who think it is their right to bash women and children.
Change must happen – and quickly, yet the process drags on in the mire of politics.
In Queensland a general presumption exists that bail applications should be granted, but the Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Board chaired by the State Coroner is urging the Attorney-General to look at the Bail Act and consider specific circumstances that would allow the presumption to be revoked.
The potential benefits are obvious when the Gold Coast, for example, considers the circumstances surrounding troubling cases that involved angry men who killed their partners. The entire nation was rocked by the brutality, which in some circumstances happened in front of witnesses.
The board’s report says presumptions of bail are displaced in NSW in family violence offences and breaches of protection orders when the accused has a history of violence. Bail is also denied in certain family violence cases in Victoria, the ACT, the Northern Territory and South Australia, while in Tasmania a court must be satisfied there is no threat to safety.
The Bulletin has previously pointed out how ineffective existing bail conditions and court orders are when violent men ignore them, and has urged – if need be – an overhaul of the laws so that in cases of family violence, the onus of proof is reversed.
When the red mist descends, these men cannot be stopped. They have to be taken off the streets and locked away if the women and children are to be protected.
In the meantime the rights of violent offenders seem to take priority while the people who need protecting – frightened families – hide in refuges.