On behalf of the Tasmanian Greens, I warmly welcome the passage of our bill to decriminalise begging through the House of Assembly.
The offence of begging has rightfully been decriminalised in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales and it is beyond time for Tasmania to follow suit.
On examination of the proposed bills, as well as the various models in different jurisdictions and the views of stakeholders, Labor's bill is the model that the Greens prefer.
The compensation payout to the courageous and inspiring Katrina Munting, who is with us here today in the Chamber, is only the start of justice for victim/survivors of child sexual abuse in Tasmanian institutions.
The Greens certainly understand that assaults on workers in workplaces are unacceptable, and concerningly, there definitely appears to be an increase in some areas of work where workers are at risk.
Today we are joined by Devarshi Deka and his parents Kula and Deepali - and I urge you to meet with them - and principal petitioner, Ayman Jaffri.
The Greens have been advocating for expanding the court‑mandated diversion program to include alcohol-related offending since 2016.
How many of these remain under investigation and how many of them have resulted in charges or prosecutions?
We've got reservations about whether extending the existing framework is going to fully address the concerns raised by the commission.
Are there additional resources being allocated to DoJ, and in particular to OPC, to achieve those deadlines?
