Ryan ‘sorry’ for DV failure

CORRECTIVE Services Minister Mark Ryan has conceded an outdated Victims Register information page was updated after the Bulletin revealed failures in the alert system.

The embattled Minister, after two days of scrutiny from Opposition MPs in State Parliament, late yesterday offered a general apology to domestic violence victims not aware that under new laws they could obtain access to the Register.

The reforms introduced in March, after a newspaper campaign and Private Members Bill by the Opposition, enable DV victims to sign on the Register and be updated about the release from jail of perpetrators.

A report on Tuesday detailed how a Gold Coast woman only found out through Facebook that her abusive ex-partner had been released from jail.

The Bulletin yesterday reported the latest update on the Register page had been on November 10, 2016, until it was changed overnight.

During Question Time in Parliament, Opposition Corrective Services spokesman Tim Mander tabled screen shots showing the pages had “miraculously changed overnight”.

He asked Mr Ryan why no changes had occurred on the web page for six months until the failings were publicised.

Mr Ryan said he had spoken to the Acting Commissioner of Corrective Services and given a direction about doing more to promote the Register.

“Part of that is updating the website … I make no apologies about that,” Mr Ryan replied.

He was asked whether his inaction had caused him to be in breach of Labor’s own victim’s rights charter.

“On behalf of myself and Corrective Services, I apologise to those people … if they feel they have fallen through the cracks,” Mr Ryan said.

Opposition justice spokesman Ian Walker asked Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk if her government would divert a multimillion-dollar advertising budget to notify all Queenslanders of their rights to register for critical parole alerts.

But time ran out for an answer after Labor frontbenchers asked Mr Walker to withdraw comments about Mr Ryan who he accused of making a “pathetic explanation to the House”.

LABOR SHOWED THEY ARE MORE INTERESTED IN RUNNING A MARK RYAN PROTECTION RACKET THAN STANDING UP FOR VICTIMS

Outside the Parliament, Mudgeeraba MP and Opposition frontbencher Ros Bates said Mr Ryan was blaming everyone except himself.

“Instead of apologising to victims of domestic violence for his failure, he woefully said sorry if they felt aggrieved,” Ms Bates said.

“Labor showed today they are more interested in running a Mark Ryan protection racket than standing up for victims of domestic violence left in the dark by a do-nothing Minister.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk needs to get rid of this embarrassing Minister before he inflicts any further hurt and blame onto victims.”

LNP FRONTBENCHER ROS BATES