I want to touch on sentencing - what is the purpose of sentencing?
Primarily to punish the offender;
- to reduce crime by preventing an offender from committing more crime and acting as a deterrent to others from committing similar offences;
- to reform and rehabilitate by changing an offender’s behaviour to prevent future crime and reoffending;
- and to protect the public from an offender and from the risk of more crimes being committed.
When it comes to terrorism and terrorist offences, we must shout from the rooftops that as a country and as a people, we will not tolerate terrorist criminality; that this behaviour is morally wrong and there is no place for it in our society.
We are all incredibly luck to live in such a free and tolerant country; we have freedoms which are not always found in other countries – and which we too often take for granted.
We must get tough – zero tolerance - as a country, on people who wish to do us harm and who try and disrupt our way of life. Some of these terrorists can have a long-term goal and we all need to be sure that when they are released, they no longer seek to do us harm. We must face reality that for some terrorist offenders, the risk to do harm endures and we cannot be certain that rehabilitation is simulated or real.
Terrorism comes in many forms; to create fear and anxiety, to stifle debate. It has an impact on our human rights by affecting our enjoyment of the right to life, liberty and physical safety. It impacts on individuals, our communities and our society by undermining our peace and security. It threatens our social and economic development.
Security of an individual is a basic human right and protection of individuals is a fundamental duty of government.
I therefore welcome, Mr Speaker, this Bill’s creation of a new Serious Terrorism Sentence for dangerous offenders whose acts are ‘very likely’ to have caused or contributed to multiple deaths. The 14 year minimum jail term, with up to 25 years spent on licence will act as a real deterrent and send a strong message that this country will not tolerate, we are not cowed by the ill will of others.