- Breaking
- Politics
- NSW
- Domestic violence
‘Dereliction of duty’: Coalition tries to push through DV bail laws without reading them
The NSW Coalition’s most senior law officer, Alister Henskens, has been accused of displaying a “dereliction of duty” after he tried to rush new domestic violence bail laws through the state parliament before even reading the bill.
In an extraordinary move, Henskens wanted to suspend standing orders so the Minns government’s new laws, which include the removal of the presumption of bail for serious domestic violence offenders, would pass without consultation.
The changes follow a string of high-profile alleged domestic violence offences, including the death of Forbes woman Molly Ticehurst last month.
Shadow attorney-general Alister Henskens said the Coalition wanted new bail laws to pass parliament by Thursday.Credit: Louise Kennerley
The bill had not yet been tabled to parliament when Henskens, the shadow attorney-general, argued that there was no time to waste in toughening bail laws. He later said he had seen the government’s press release outlining the changes and knew the bill would not be controversial or lengthy.
Henskens said the laws had been modelled on a bill proposed by the Coalition, and the shadow cabinet had agreed to support Labor’s laws.
However, Henskens’ push failed when Sydney MP Alex Greenwich and Greens MP for Newtown Jenny Leong delivered a blistering attack.
Greenwich said he had been in parliament for “five premiers, five leaders of the opposition and four different parliaments”, and he had never seen a proposal with “such disrespect to stakeholders in this space”.
“I’ve never seen a greater dereliction of duty of an opposition to not even look at a bill, or greater disrespect for stakeholders to say you don’t want to consult with them,” Greenwich said.
“They want to rubber stamp something they haven’t ever seen. But let me say this to the stakeholders and those concerned: if the opposition are going to abrogate their responsibility in this space, the crossbench will pick it up.”
Leong said the former Coalition government had 12 years to improve domestic violence rates but did little to increase vital funding for emergency measures, such as shelters for women fleeing partners.
She said Henskens’ attempts to ram through the bill smacked of “relevance deprivation”.
Leader of the House Ron Hoenig said it was completely reckless of the Coalition to push through the laws without having any idea of what they said.
“The bill could be to abolish the Liberal Party,” Hoenig said.
Attorney-General Michael Daley told parliament that the NSW Police Force had requested time to ensure that “all their systems and officers are ready to implement these changes across the state”.
Domestic violence support groups, including Say No to Violence, had also asked that the new laws be “considered properly” before being passed.
On Tuesday, the Minns government announced a series of sweeping changes designed to make it harder for men accused of serious domestic violence offences to be released back into the community.
At the centre of the package is a reversal of the presumption of bail against men accused of serious domestic violence offences, which includes intimate partner violence involving elements such as sexual assault, strangulation, kidnapping or coercive control.
There will also be changes that will allow bail decisions on serious domestic violence offences to be delayed while prosecutors appeal an offender’s release in the Supreme Court.
A requirement for magistrates and judges to consider “red flag” behaviour such as animal cruelty, stalking and verbal or physical abuse when considering bail will be introduced, while courts will need to consider the views of victims and their families.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.