Here's a response I received from Peter Nugent last week. He's
trying to cover all possibilities, but is obviously still open to change
. . . from somewhere. . . .
Dear Ms Sanders
Thank you for your email dated 5 April 00 regarding mandatory
sentencing.
I apologise for not responding sooner, but I have had a large volume
of
mail on this subject.
It is widely acknowledged that juvenile contact with the criminal
system
should be minimised by dealing with them informally and without
invoking
procedures which in themselves may be harmful and punitive. The
provision
of special arrangements for the charging, trial and sentencing of
young
offenders maximises opportunities for them to be rehabilitated.
Whilst there is still substantial work to be done to finalise the detail
of the funding which will be applied to the various diversionary
programs
and the details of agreed changes to policing practices to ensure
diversion of juveniles are also to be the subject of further
consultation,
we are still further down the track to solving the problem than we
were
before the debate. There will also be a 12 month monitoring period
to
ensure the effectiveness of the diversionary programs as well as a
Government Committee looking into the whole issue of juvenile
justice.
We do not have a perfect solution - but the issue has been raised
and many
people, including myself, will be monitoring the results.
Yours sincerely
Peter Nugent, MP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sandy Sanders
Wormhole Books
27A Main Street
Upwey VIC 3158
ph/fax 61 (03) 9754 5440
www.wormhole.com.au
WORMHOLE BOOKS science/fiction and beyond . . . .
www.wormhole.com.au
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