Lee Melissa: Sentencing (Aggravating Factors) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Lee Melissa: Sentencing (Aggravating Factors) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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MELISSA LEE (National) 
: 
 I am rather disappointed in the previous speaker Carmel Sepuloni. First of all she said that the Sentencing (Aggravating Factors) Amendment Bill will do nothing to reduce crime levels. I guess she tried to say that the courts were already dealing with aggravating assaults when she said there were already mitigating factors but there is a huge difference between something that may be considered in sentencing and something that is required to be considered. 
It is similar to the difference between attempted murder and murder. There is a huge difference between attempted murder and murder and there is a huge difference between something that may be considered and something that is required to be considered as a mitigating factor. There is a huge difference. 
Labour members who claim that National has done nothing had 9 years to deal with this issue. Now they are saying that the Government is not doing anything for victims. Hello? The police officers are not victims? We are looking after the victims. 
Every time our police officers don their blue uniforms they put their lives on the line. Whether they are answering a 111 call investigating a disturbance or patrolling a beat police officers on the front line are working for us. They are working to keep us safe but every time they do their duty to protect us their lives are on the line. Prison officers too come up against violence in the course of performing their duties. It is part of their job. That is what we expect them to do. They accept that their job comes with a certain amount of risk and danger. 
But what happens when a police officer or a prison officer is attacked? We have all seen in the newspapers and on TV the horrific injuries suffered by police officers in their line of duty. Over the last 5 years as other members have said there has been a huge increase in both the rate and the number of assaults on police officers and prison officers. That is why the Minister of Justice is putting forward this bill and I commend him for doing so. Unlike Opposition members who claim that this bill does nothing I believe that it will make a difference. 
I do not know how many of us would want to do what front-line police officers and prison officers have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I certainly would not want to do what they do. They put their lives in danger and their families are constantly worried about their safety every time they go out there to do their jobs in order to keep us safe. 
The purpose of the Sentencing (Aggravating Factors) Amendment Bill is to ensure that the fact that an offence was committed against a police officer or prison officer acting in the course of his or her duty is taken into account as a mitigating factor at sentencing. As mentioned by the previous speaker Carmel Sepuloni that recourse is currently available but only as a “may be”—it may be considered as an aggravating factor. As I said there is a huge difference between a “may be” a “should be” and a “must be” in respect of what the court is required to take into account. 
National wants to send a clear message that assaults against law enforcement officers are unacceptable. We back our men and women in blue. We support our police force. That is the reason why I support the bill and I commend this bill to the House. I look forward to its passage through to the Law and Order Committee.