Labor commits to reducing Indigenous incarceration to reduce deaths in custody
Linda Burney on Sky News News Day with Ashleigh Gillon - Thursday, 15 April 2021
ASHLEIGH GILLON, HOST: Today does mark the 30th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. So many years on, its there’s still much to do with 5 deaths in custody in Australia in just over a month.
Joining us live in the Perth studios is the Shadow Minister for Indigenous affairs, Linda Burney.
LINDA BURNEY: Hi Ash.
GILLON: Nice to see you, thank you for coming in. One of the best ways to avoid deaths in custody is of course is to keep people out of gaol in the first place. It’s a very complex question I realise that but how do we go about it?
BURNEY: Well Labor is announcing today $92 million in ways to do this Ash because you are correct, the way to drive down deaths in custody is to drive down the number of people going into custody. And what we’ve seen since the Royal Commission, 30 years on, is the doubling of the number of people in custody. So, we’re talking about $79 million into justice reinvestment which means we tackle the root causes of people coming in contact with the criminal system. We’re talking about $13 million to assist families in the coronial inquest inquiry which is just so important because that provides answers how to avoid deaths in custody. We’re also talking about implementing a system of real time reporting of deaths in custody and that’s all deaths in custody, not just Indigenous deaths. Because, at the moment you are lucky to find out whether there’s been a death in custody or not. We are looking at prevention and early intervention. They are very easy words to say but that’s what justice reinvestment is about and the great thing about it is that we are going to go in partnerships with state and territories on that.
GILLON: How significant would it be to lift the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12? It’s been revealed today that this is a proposal that really is getting traction among the various Attorney Generals right around the country.
BURNEY: I’ve just finished a press conference and the Attorney General from Western Australia John Quigley was there and he’s led the push in lowering the age of criminal responsibility. It is something that Labor is very keen to pursue it is something that we would absolutely support Attorney General’s around the country in looking at. We don’t have a firm policy on what the age should be but it is a very live discussion. We would back in the Attorney Generals if they came up with a proposal.
GILLON: No doubt you’ve looked at this issue very closely.
BURNEY: We have.
GILLON: What’s your personal view on this because there is a view to push that it should be pushed even higher to the age of 14.
BURNEY: Well at the moment there are about 80 children in Australia that are about 10 years old, now for mums and dads and people watching us out there or if we’ve got little brothers, nieces and nephews at the age of 10, they’re children. There is a real question about whether locking up a 10-year-old is the best way to deal what the issue is. I’m not talking about not being tough on violent crimes, of course they have to be dealt with, but my personal view is that 10 is not an age where children should be locked up.
GILLON: Well watch closely to see if there is any progress on that. It sounds like its been coming for a long time now.
BURNEY: I hope so.
GILLON: Linda Burney we appreciate your time.
LINDA BURNEY
TRANSCRIPT - THURSDAY, 15 APRIL 2021