PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM PREDATORS

Thursday 15^th November 2007

Rev Fred Nile, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, has commended the NSW State Government  for providing further protection against sexual predators. During debate in the NSW Upper House, Rev Nile gave the following address.

“The Christian Democratic Party supports the Crimes Amendment (Sexual Procurement or Grooming of Children) Bill 2007. The object of the bill is to make it an offence for an adult to procure or groom a child for unlawful sexual activity. The proposed preparatory offences will be subject to the following range of penalties depending on the age of the child, irrespective of the nature of the sexual activity for which the child has been procured or groomed: procuring a child under 14 years of age, imprisonment for 15 years; procuring a child under 16 years of age, imprisonment for 12 years; grooming a child under 14 years of age, imprisonment for 12 years; or grooming a child under 16 years of age, imprisonment for 10 years.

The bill creates new offences of procuring a child for sexual purposes or grooming a child for sexual purposes. Child grooming and the more serious crime of procuring a child for sex, are both preparatory offences for indecent assault, sexual assault or other sexual offences committed against children. Currently, Commonwealth offences exist for the crimes of procuring and grooming children for sexual purposes over the Internet or telecommunications networks. However, a loophole exists where children are groomed or procured by other means, such as face to face. The proposed New South Wales laws will remove those loopholes and criminalise all grooming and procuring behaviour however it is perpetrated”, Rev Fred Nile said

“To identify persons involved in criminal behaviour we must ensure that we have adequate police resources, whether in the New South Wales Police Force, child sexual abuse units or other units at the State level, and work in cooperation with Federal police to ensure that strict action can be taken to observe and monitor Internet material and face-to-face activities of grooming a child for a potential sexual assault. Over the years that I have been involved in fighting paedophilia and child pornography I have been aware of the extent to which individuals will go—and that often passes one's normal comprehension. I have read reports about this matter and I heard one report on the ABC in which some paedophiles boasted of their activities in Sydney. They said that they would often see a boy, perceived as a potential target, and then groom the mother for up to 12 months to win her friendship and trust, with the sole purpose of gaining access to the child. During that process they groom the child as well and take advantage of the mother's trust.

From many tragic reports we have learned that paedophiles have been successful in joining organisations that have access to children. Laws have been passed that require people to fill in various forms to ascertain whether they are suitable to work with children and adults. That area remains a concern, because people with paedophilia tendencies deliberately join youth organisations, such as Scouts Australia, where they have access to children. Some even join church organisations, and it is known that some even become licensed clergymen, although their objective is to have access to children. Some become a church youth leader, which causes great concern to the churches of New South Wales and other States.

Debate continues on whether there is any connection between homosexuality and paedophilia, and whether there are homosexual paedophiles and heterosexual paedophiles. It has been reported that some homosexual men are attracted to blonde boys. In my mind, that should be described as paedophilia activity. The offence of procuring a child for sexual purposes will carry a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment if the child is under the age of 14 years, or 12 years imprisonment in any other case. The offence of grooming a child for sexual purposes will carry a maximum penalty of 12 years imprisonment if the child is under the age of 14 years and 10 years imprisonment in other cases.

Because of those age limits the intention of the bill is not to criminalise 15-year-olds who send indecent or suggestive messages to other 15-year-olds. That requirement is consistent with the Commonwealth and Queensland offences. Sadly, in recent days, some dangerous tendencies have emerged of boys under 15 years using the Internet to assault girls aged 9, 10 and 11. In future the Attorney General will have to monitor those age limits as they are no longer relevant in our society. That is a tragedy, but it is the reality. A "child" is defined as "a person who is under the age of 16 years", which is the age of consent in New South Wales. Previously I have pointed out the inconsistency of a court suppressing the name of a child up to the age of 18 years. The age for a "child" should be 16, it should be consistent in the legal area, in legislation and in the courtroom.

The offences will extend to any activity with another person who pretends to be a child if the accused believed the other person to be a child. For example, an offence will be committed when a person is communicating with an undercover police officer posing as a child if that person forcefully believes that he or she is communicating with a child. One of the most successful operations of police, particularly at the Federal level, in cooperation with police forces of other nations including the United States of America, the United Kingdom and in Europe, was to successfully expose those networks. I congratulate the undercover police officers on their success in that area. I imagine that a police officer pretending to be a child in an endeavour to catch an evil person is not a very pleasant role. However, in our modern society there is no way of avoiding that.

"Sexual activity" will be defined as involving any act that, if performed, would involve an offence against the sexual assault provisions in part 3 division 10 of the Crimes Act 1900. There is a requirement that the communication contains material that is indecent, which is referred to as an objective test, which is consistent with the Commonwealth offence. For the purpose of the offence it does not matter whether the intention is that the child engage in sexual activity with the offender or third party. It will be a defence if the accused reasonably believed that the person recruited or with whom the accused engaged in the activity was not a child. The Christian Democratic Party is pleased to support the bill and congratulates the Government on its introduction”, stated Rev Nile.

“Any amendments to alcohol-related legislation must be treated with great care so that we do not inadvertently create more social problems in this State. The Federal Government's National Alcohol Strategy 2006-09, which was endorsed by the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy in May 2006, has been developed in cooperation with State and Territory governments in response to the serious impact that alcohol has on this country. Each year approximately 3,000 people die as a result of excessive alcohol consumption and about 65,000 people are hospitalised. The annual national cost of alcohol-related social problems is estimated to be $7.6 billion. The strategy's four priorities are intoxication, public safety and amenity, health impacts, and cultural place and availability.

There is also no doubt that people who drive under the influence of alcohol cause serious accidents. One in eight people admit to driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Young people, particularly those in the 20 to 29 age group, are more likely to consume alcohol in a way that exposes them to the risk of long-term alcohol-related harm. It is important that this Parliament hasten very slowly with any moves to reform alcohol legislation. We must ensure that we do not open Pandora's box and as a result confront many more problems, especially given the predicted increase in the number of small bars operating in the Sydney city area”, stated Rev Nile

Rev Nile had also raised the issue of Alcohol the day before during question time in the Legislative Council;

Reverend the Hon. FRED NILE: I ask the Hon. John Della Bosca, representing the Premier, a question without notice. Is it a fact that a Federal parliamentary report found that Australia's number one social problem is not heroin but the drug alcohol and that the social annual cost of alcohol is $7.6 billion for Australia? Is it a fact that the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia reported that between 41 and 70 per cent of violent crimes are committed whilst the offender is under the influence of alcohol, and that alcohol is involved in about 50 per cent of cases of domestic violence and sexual violence?

Is it a fact that the biggest New South Wales liquor law reform in 25 years, announced by the Premier on 6 November, will increase the sales outlets for alcohol and so increase the consumption of alcohol in New South Wales, resulting in an increase in social and economic costs? Will the Premier consider all these factors before introducing the new liquor legislation?

The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: I thank Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile for his question. It is a very good question and a complex one to answer. I will just make a couple of observations. The member knows the views of the Government and my views on these matters are well rehearsed. We have clearly taken the view that alcohol is one of the drugs in our society that is problematic and is at least one of the causal factors in many of the issues he referred to, whether it be domestic violence, social activity on the streets, violent activity, assaults or other criminal activity. Indeed, one could make the rhetorical point that the effects of alcohol, as a licit drug, include many of the worst effects of illicit drugs, about which we have a stronger view in the criminal justice system.

However, I remind the honourable member of a fundamental issue. I do not want to raise too many of the arguments of the distant past, but alcohol is, and has been for a long time, part of Australian culture and our lifestyle. The overwhelming majority of Australians take the view that, consumed in responsible amounts, alcohol is not harmful and may even be beneficial. Alcohol is an accepted drug in our culture and we must deal with it using policies and harm minimisation to reduce its negative social impact. I do not think it can be easily or necessarily controlled by dictating the operations of businesses that deal with alcohol.

Recent announcements made by the Premier and the Minister for Gaming and Racing, the Hon. Graham West, were manifold and will have many effects. They deal with a range of opportunities to minimise harm and to engage with the social consequences of alcohol and alcohol outlets. The member is aware of the evidence that much of the abuse and many of the social problems caused by irresponsible consumption of alcohol relate to our drinking culture and alcohol-related activities and not to the behaviour of alcohol retailers. In other words, he could find—and it could be argued on the evidence—that although the Premier's reforms might increase the number of places at which it is possible to purchase alcohol, they might also have a positive impact over time on our drinking culture. That has been the policy challenge for any responsible government and anyone participating in this debate.

We are a long way from regulating the consumption of alcohol as it was regulated in the days of wowser versus punter arguments. If we want to minimise the social effects and the harm caused by alcohol, our policies should address changing our culture and attitudes to it and dealing with health implications, preventative measures and education. Although I do not like the terminology, we should promote a more "sophisticated" approach to alcohol consumption. That might mean that people will be less inclined to look at alcohol as a means of becoming intoxicated and acknowledge the negative health and social impacts that concern the honourable member. I will refer the balance of the question to the Premier for any other comments he might want to add.