This is all part of the government's effort, under the leadership of Mr. Gray, to make the business of government more open, responsive and accountable. This mechanism will allow the Minister, on the recommendation of the chairperson, to appoint a federal court judge to inquire into the conduct of a Board member. The judge will be able to recommend suitable action, including dismissal, should cause to do so be found. This is just one of several measures the government is either proposing or implementing to improve public confidence in the parole system. I trust you would agree that a gradual transition from custody to the community, under supervision and control and with support and assistance, is clearly the safest way to release most offenders.
Statistics show that our parole system works reasonably well.
Of all offenders released on parole, about 15 per cent of parolees commit a new offence, and about half of those are for property or victimless crimes as opposed to crime against a person. Of course, everyone would like to see an even better success rate, because obviously crime is still being committed by this fifteen per cent. The point is that our parole system protects public safety much more than would a practice of keeping all offenders until warrant expiry and then just letting them out with no supervision and support. But despite the board's best efforts there will sometimes be failures. Predicting human behaviour can never be an exact science but we have to ensure that we cut the potential margin for error to a minimum.