A parliamentary committee has rejected a Palmer United Party bill which would have allowed police the power to enter and search the premises of sex offenders, amidst claims from a committee member the system is not doing its job.
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The Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee, chaired by LNP MP Ian Berry, rejected the bill Palmer MP Carl Judge had introduced to parliament, which would have increased police powers in regards to registered sex offenders.
The committee had previously rejected a bill introduced by Katter MP Shane Knuth, which would have allowed the details of registered sex offenders to be published on a website.
Under the Palmer bill, registered sex offenders would have been privy to random compliance audits, to ensure they are meeting their reporting obligations and police would have the power to enter and search a premises, without consent or a warrant, “to investigate a matter or make an enquiry” when they reasonably believed there to be a need.
Issues raised in submissions to the inquiry included an “unrealistic” workload being placed on the police service that current legislative powers were enough, and more research was needed.
The Queensland Police Service and Premier Campbell Newman, writing on behalf of the government, both declined to provide a submission to the bill.
Committee member and independent MP Peter Wellington's statement of reservation was attached to the committee's report.
In his statement, Mr Wellington said he believed the committee's ability “to fully consider the bill has been hindered” by both the QPS and the government declining to provide a submission.
“Their decision not to be involved in the committee process or make any submissions, I believe, shows how the current committee system is not able to produce the best reports possible,” Mr Wellington said.
In the committee report, Mr Berry said while there was “merit in the policy objectives being pursued”, “the committee considers a review of the entire child protection offender reporting regime should occur to ensure that evidence based policy is introduced that deals with this issue in a holistic manner and not in a piecemeal fashion”.
Police minister Jack Dempsey introduced the government's own bill on the issue last month. Under Mr Dempsey's bill, additional periodic reporting will be introduced on top of the periodic quarterly reporting requirements.
The committee is still considering the government's proposed legislation.
