RYAN UNDER FIRE AGAIN

CORRECTIVE Services Minister Mark Ryan must consider his future following damaging claims a domestic violence victim was not warned her tormentor was out of jail.

At the very least, the minister should be hunting scalps among Corrective Services or parole staff. The rights and safety of victims must come first.

It is not good enough a thug was released early despite making phone threats to his victim. It is unforgivable that beefedup legislation requiring that victims be warned was ignored and the man was released without someone in authority alerting the woman and her family, who have taken it on themselves to protect her.

That says a lot about confidence in departments that are supposed to shield the vulnerable – but then, the Gold Coast knows all about how ineffective the system has been. The terrible deaths of several local women are testimony to that.

A key plank in the legislation that passed in Parliament in March was introduction of the DV Alert system to notify victims when a prisoner is about to get parole. With this having failed, Mr Ryan finds himself in the glare of public scrutiny.

The minister and the Palaszczuk Government had to be dragged into supporting the bill, which was intended to protect the thousands of women and children who have suffered at the hands of violent men.

It was only after relentless campaigning by the Bulletin and the LNP’s Ros Bates to overhaul laws that had let down the Gold Coast’s Tara Brown, Teresa Bradford and Shelsea Schilling, that groundbreaking legislation was introduced and passed.

Mr Ryan has been under fire for inadequate police resources. There have been scandals involving the fudging of crime figures and the treatment of crime managers who reported problems. Recently, he has been heavily criticised for standing alongside Leanne and Gary Pullen at a press conference to support the Government’s “no body, no parole’’ laws, knowing one of their son’s killers had been granted parole just days before the legislation went through the House.

These matters will be election issues when Queensland goes to the polls. The Government can’t afford to have either the minister or his department failing to use the anti-domestic violence laws to protect vulnerable families. Something has to give.