Bourke Law And Order

About this Item
Speakers - Moppett The Hon Doug
Business - Adjournment

BOURKE LAW AND ORDER

The Hon. D. F. MOPPETT [11.10]: I wish to bring to the attention of honourable members the detail of incidents that constitute grave miscarriages of natural justice, although in each case the letter of the law was followed. Though the incidents took place in the township of Bourke, they would be of interest to the residents of many townships throughout rural New South Wales. Mention has been made in the Federal Parliament of one of the incidents. I shall avoid using names lest I inadvertently identify the juvenile involved in one of the incidents. A businessman in the township of Bourke has, for a considerable period, been the victim of property break-ins, petty robberies and vandalism. Consequently he has suffered financially and has become quite anxious. He spent $6,000 to erect a security fence around his premises. That had the salutary effect of reducing the number of break-ins from two or three a week to one a month. Recently his premises were broken into again and some cash and the keys to one of his motor vehicles were stolen. Exasperated, the businessman, acting on advice given to him, tracked down an alleged culprit who, when confronted, admitted his involvement in the offence and agreed, after consultation with his uncle, to accompany the businessman back to his premises.

The alleged culprit agreed, by way of reparation, to make some attempt to clean up the premises. He authenticated his involvement in the break-in by retrieving the missing keys from a nearby tree. The mother of this 11-year-old child agreed with the procedure that was adopted. The businessman involved provided the child with breakfast. Subsequently the police agreed that the action taken by the businessman was fair and reasonable. However, on the insistence subsequently of the Aboriginal Legal Service the businessman against whom the offences were committed was charged with kidnapping and assault. Fortunately the extremely serious charge of kidnapping was dropped. The assault charge, however, was proceeded with. The businessman has suffered the indignity of having a criminal charge preferred and proved against him. He has outlaid of the order of $20,000 in legal fees and fines. He is a sadder but much wiser man.

The other incident involved an individual whose clothing was stolen frequently from his clothesline. When he saw some of his clothing being worn around the streets by a juvenile, he made an attempt to recover his property and to admonish the individual concerned. He recovered his clothing and offered the person some advice. Subsequently this man also was charged with assault. To date no action has been taken against the juveniles involved. I do not necessarily have any argument about that - there may be a better way to deal with them - but it is ridiculous that individuals who have had indignities and crimes committed against them should, because of the over zealous activities of local legal aid officers, become the victims of prosecution. Confidence in the administration
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of law in the region is low. This matter should be of concern to all citizens of New South Wales.

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