Ms O’CONNOR (Hobart) – I have completed my substantive contribution on this legislation yesterday. I look forward to hearing other honourable members’ contributions. I wanted to make just one final pitch for the Greens’ amendment to remove schools from places that Tasmania Police officers can enter in order to wand children for dangerous weapons.
Members, I hope, have read some of the submissions that were made on the draft bill, which cautioned against including schools in places where these searches could be carried out, noting that children should be able to enjoy a school environment without having police officers come in and wand potentially large groups of children. The fact that we have a bill here that seeks to make our schools prescribed areas where police officers can enter – even though we have heard from Tasmania Police themselves they will not abuse this power – is still an extraordinary power that we are giving to Tasmania Police through these amendments to potentially target schoolchildren in a place of learning and, potentially, because of the provisions in this act that allow for them to operate on a reasonable suspicion, to be profiling children under these changes.
I note again that while other jurisdictions have rightly so improved police search powers in public places, including shopping centres, sporting grounds and those sorts of places, no other jurisdiction in the country has given their police service the authority to enter schools and places of education. That is why we will be moving the amendment to remove schools from prescribed areas where Tasmania Police may conduct wand searches.
We do this primarily in the interests of the child, on the basis of upholding the rights of the child and on the basis of the evidence that we heard yesterday about the potentially criminogenic effect of young people and children having interactions with police that may make them fearful and less trusting of law enforcement, when what we need to be doing is cultivating positive and trusting relationships between young people and Tasmania Police because that is ultimately what will deliver greater community safety.
The problem that we have with this government is that we were just noting, in our morning meeting this morning, that we have seen a lot of police-type law enforcement, tough‑on-crime bills and amendments, coming through this place in recent times. It is deeply concerning that this is happening at the same time that as a state we have committed to implementing the recommendations of the commission of inquiry. We have committed to a youth justice model which is about therapeutic care. We have established a parliamentary committee to oversee the commission of inquiry’s recommendations. We have heard harrowing evidence that the way, under the minister, Mr Ellis, Tasmania Police is responding to young people is counter to the principles of the commission of inquiry.
We have had Operation Raven in the north where young people were picked up for drinking in a public place. I will tell you what, just about everyone here, when we were young, has committed that offence.
Member – I have not.
Ms O’CONNOR – You never had a drink in a public place? Gosh.
Ms Forrest – They have not lived.
Ms O’CONNOR – We seem to be applying a set of standards and rules here to young people that were not applied to us when we were young. We did not have to worry about police officers coming into our schools and wanding us. We did not have to worry about things like Operation Raven, which was designed specifically to target young people in and around the Launceston area. That is why the population of Ashley Youth Detention Centre, that hell hole for a century, is increasing. That is why, over the past year, there have been 400 children and young people put into adult remand centres.
I really hope that honourable members recognise there should be one place in a kid’s life that is safe from an unnecessary interaction, an unfettered interaction with law enforcement and that is their school; that is the classroom. I hope colleagues support our amendment.
