Power Simon: Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Power Simon: Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 September 2011. Volume:675;Page:21231. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a second time 
. I would like to thank the Social Services Committee for its consideration of this bill and its recommendations which the Government will accept. The committee received 39 written submissions and heard 10 submitters. Most of these supported the proposals to strengthen the criminal law to better respond to the ill-treatment and neglect of children. 
Without wanting to diminish the concerns expressed by some submitters regarding the effectiveness of the proposals in protecting children from the perspective of the criminal justice system there must be adequate provision in the law to hold accountable those who inflict serious offending against the most vulnerable members of our community and specifically those who choose to turn a blind eye. 
The Government has been developing a number of other initiatives that focus on reducing family violence and improving outcomes for those living in at-risk situations such as the recently released Green Paper for Vulnerable Children. 
The select committee received a small number of submissions that were opposed to the proposed change to the definition of “claim of right” on the grounds that the change was unnecessary. I consider that the incorporation of a property right criterion in the definition of “claim of right” is needed to ensure that the use of the defence conforms to the common law in comparable overseas jurisdictions. The bill also clarifies the scope of the sexual grooming offence and increases the penalty of the offence of possession of an offensive weapon. 
I support and so does the Government the committee’s recommendation to amend the proposed offence in new section 195A of failure to protect to clarify that where a third party breaches a duty to protect a child or vulnerable adult the breach must have been grossly negligent. The committee also recommended that the offence based on a failure to protect be amended so that a person cannot be charged with the offence if he or she was under 18 years at the time of the act or omission. Parents and caregivers aged under 18 years remain liable under section 195 for a failure to take reasonable steps to protect their child from injury. 
The committee recommended a number of minor and technical changes to the bill to clarify wording and ensure appropriate consistency with other provisions in the Crimes Act. 
This bill sends an important signal to those who remain in a household with children who have the potential to be harmed injured maimed or killed. It is a critical step to ensure that this Parliament sends a firm message to those who would choose to turn a blind eye to the abuse and neglect of those children that this Parliament will not tolerate that behaviour or those omissions. 
This bill is an important change to the criminal law and I look forward to listening to the debate with some care over the next few minutes. This is an opportunity for Parliament to stamp its authority on an issue that has long escaped Parliament’s lawmaking efforts. 
This is a time for the Government and the Parliament to take a stand on the neglect of children to stand up for those whose voices are too small to be heard by those in authority and to recognise the fact that we have an obligation to protect the most important and of course the most vulnerable members of our society. I thank the members of the Social Services Committee for their consideration of the bill and I commend this bill to the House.