Our parole system is by no means soft. The Parole Board knows well the consequences of letting out on parole a person who is a danger to the community and is very unlikely to do so. It has been pointed out that this change to the parole rules represents an intervention in sentences that have already been handed down. By this legislation the Parliament is usurping a judicial function by changing the sentence so that the offenders will probably have to serve longer in prison. Our Parole Board is required to have overwhelming evidence of rehabilitation before it considers parole.
Rehabilitation is an important objective of our justice system.
There is little point in keeping in prison prisoners who have served very long sentences and might reasonably be on parole. The themes of misrepresentation and pressure on government are also apparent in the recent public discussion which took place over the law of diminished responsibility. For a time it seemed the State Government was going to move to abolish diminished responsibility, however, on 26 April 1997 the Premier announced that diminished responsibility would stay but that toughening would be considered. To his credit the Premier chose to take the advice of the New South Wales Law Reform Commission rather than amend the law. There is also an apparent willingness to adopt retrospective legislation to validate the search warrants issued by the Police Royal Commission.