Bushfire Arsonists
Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: I ask the Minister for Police the following question without notice. Is the Minister aware that New South Wales police crime statistics suggest that the rate of recorded arson incidents is increasing from 81.5 per 100,000 of population in 2003 to 95.7 per 100,000 in 2005? Is the Minister aware that a total of 1,099 arson and 133 bushfire arson defendants appeared before New South Wales courts between 2001 and 2006? In particular, is the Minister aware of research conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology that found that over half of the arsonists and over one-third of bushfire arsonists had a previous conviction ranging from personal and property offences to drug offences? Given that bushfire arson is a difficult crime to detect and prosecute, what stringent measures will be implemented and enacted by the New South Wales Police Force to reduce the number of bushfire arsonists in our State?
The Hon. Tony Kelly: This is an important and timely question. Arson is a serious crime and deservedly carries heavy penalties. The worst bushfires Australia has ever seen only recently ravaged through Victoria destroying homes and properties and taking many lives. It is sickening to learn that many of these devastating fires and losses need not have occurred because some of the more horrific fires were deliberately lit. Whatever motivates a person to deliberately light a fire—be it revenge, vandalism, financial gain or the intent to injure—when they are caught they deserve the strongest penalties the law can deliver.
I understand the Premier recently asked the Attorney General to review offences and penalties relating to arson, particularly dealing with those offences relating to bushfires. The Attorney General will be looking at things such as the sentences imposed for arson, whether new standard minimum sentences are required, the range of offences related to arson, and arson laws in other States and Territories. Police will be providing input to the Attorney General to assist in this review, as will the Rural Fire Service, the New South Wales Fire Brigades, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Sentencing Council. As the Leader of the Opposition recently acknowledged, New South Wales has some of the toughest penalties in the nation.
Under the Rural Fires Act a person who sets a fire or who permits a fire to escape from their control and causes injury or damage can be imprisoned for up to five years and fined $110,000, or both. Additional penalties apply for those who hinder firefighters or damage firefighting equipment. I am advised that maliciously damaging property carries a penalty of 10 years’ jail. If the fire is intended to injure another person or to gain profit, the penalty is 14 years’ jail. Even a threat to destroy or damage another’s property attracts a five-year jail term. If any of these crimes are committed during public disorder, an extra two years’ imprisonment applies.
Under the Government’s 2006 gangs legislation, threats connected with an organised criminal group, such as a bikie gang, to destroy or damage another’s property, for example, by setting fire to it, carry a penalty of 10 years jail. The most serious category of maliciously destroying or damaging another person’s property with intent to endanger another person’s life carries a penalty of up to 25 years jail. The Rees Government takes this issue seriously. The tragic devastation recently wrought by the fires in Victoria reminds us not only of the importance of bushfire prevention, but also that the police must be active in pursuing those who commit these crimes. Let me assure the House that the New South Wales police take all these arson incidents seriously.
Identifying the cause of a fire is often difficult and time consuming. Unfortunately, in many cases the evidence is insufficient to accurately determine the cause of the fire. A high percentage of fires, therefore, are recorded as suspicious or by undetermined cause. Arson crime is investigated by local area commands, and the Property Crime Squad within the State Crime Command also investigates arson incidents and provides intelligence on arson across the State. I am pleased to report that late last year the Arson Squad was expanded to become a team of 16 detectives. Using advanced investigative methodologies the expanded Arson Squad investigate bushfires where death or serious injury has occurred, serial arsonists are suspected, the fire is suspicious and where substantial property damage has occurred.