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Hansard of Committee Evidence LEGAL AFFAIRS, POLICE, CORRECTIVE SERVICES AND EMERGENCY SERVICES COMMITTEE Members present: Hon. D.M. Wells MP (Acting Chair) Mr J-P. H. Langbroek MP Mrs J.M. Attwood MP Mr J.P. Bleijie MP Mr C.J. Foley MP Staff present: Ms A. Powell (Research Director) Ms A. Honeyman (Principal Research Officer) Mr P. Rogers (Principal Research Officer) EXAMINATION OF THE POLICE POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS TUESDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2011 Brisbane LAPCSESC—Examination of Police Powers & Responsibilities & Other Leg. A’ment Bill 2011 TUESDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2011 LAPCSESC—Examination of Police Powers & Responsibilities & Other Leg. A’ment Bill 2011 Committee met at 11.14 am ACTING CHAIR: I declare the public meeting of the examination of the Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 open. Thank you very much for your interest and for your attendance here today. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land upon which we meet, their elders past and present, the custodians of the sacred lands of our state. The Legal Affairs, Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services Committee is a statutory committee of the Queensland parliament and as such represents the parliament. It is an all-party committee which attempts to adopt a non-partisan approach in its inquiries. There are some preliminary things that need to be said. First I would like to introduce the members of the committee present today. On my left is John-Paul Langbroek, deputy chair and member for Surfers Paradise. Further to my left is Mr Chris Foley, member for Maryborough. Further to my left is Ms Julie Attwood, member for Mount Ommaney. To my far right is Mr Jarrod Bleijie, member for Kawana, a position in which he finds himself increasingly comfortable. Also we have members of the secretariat whose names are all Amanda. I am Dean Wells. I am the member for Murrumba and acting chair of the committee. Barbara Stone, who is the chair of the committee, is unable to attend due to illness. On 25 August 2011 the Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill was introduced into the parliament and was subsequently referred to the committee for examination and report on the issues. The committee is required to report to the House by 11 November 2011. The committee has advised the public of the examination by advertising in the media and on the committee’s website and also by writing directly to a number of individuals and organisations. I stress that the committee is undertaking an examination process on behalf of the parliament and has as yet made no recommendations, nor put forward any proposals. The committee is being assisted in its examination of the bill by advisers from the Queensland Police Service. The committee’s proceedings are lawful proceedings and are subject to the standing rules and orders of the Queensland parliament. I ask all people present to turn their mobiles off or to put them on silent. In the unlikely event of the need to evacuate, please follow staff directions. Members of the public are reminded that they are here to observe the hearing and may not interrupt the hearing. In accordance with standing order 298, any person admitted to this hearing may be excluded at the discretion of the chair or by order of the committee. Representatives of the media may attend and they may record the hearing. We have today issued some guidelines for the media. These are similar to the guidelines with which they are already familiar for the recording of parliament. Although the committee is not swearing witnesses, I should remind witnesses that these hearings are a formal process of the parliament and should be respected as such. There is a furphy which is put around by some people that it is permissible to lie to parliament. It is not. It is a breach of the privilege of parliament and a contempt of the parliament and very severe penalties can accrue to either a member or a member of the public who deliberately misleads the parliament. I also remind witnesses that Hansard will be making a recording of the proceedings. I ask that you please identify yourself when you first speak and speak directly and at a reasonable pace for the benefit of Hansard. Your words will be recorded for posterity or for such members of posterity as may have nothing better to do than to read your words and ours. BARNETT, Mr Ross, Deputy Commissioner (Specialist Operations), Queensland Police Service CHAN, Senior Sergeant Rachael, Senior Legislation Officer, Legislation Development Unit, Queensland Police Service FRIEDMAN, Mr Paul, Director, Office of the Commissioner, Queensland Police Service ACTING CHAIR: First we will be briefed on some particular aspects of the bill by advisers from the Queensland Police Service. May I welcome Mr Ross Barnett, Deputy Commissioner, Specialist Operations; Mr Paul Friedman, Director, Office of the Commissioner; and Senior Sergeant Rachael Chan, Senior Legislation Officer, Legislation Development Unit. Good morning. Thank you very much for coming here today. Before speaking, please identify yourselves for the benefit of Hansard and speak clearly for Hansard. Deputy Commissioner, would you care to begin? Deputy Commissioner Barnett: Good morning. Thank you, Mr Chair. If I may, I would just like to brief the committee on some of the preparatory work, the consultation that has taken place and some of the key amendments that are being considered. The purpose of the Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011, hereafter referred to as the bill, is to ensure that the Police Brisbane - 1 - 04 Oct 2011 LAPCSESC—Examination of Police Powers & Responsibilities & Other Leg. A’ment Bill 2011 Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 continues to meet its purposes as described in section 5 of the PPRA—namely, the consolidation and rationalisation of powers and responsibilities that police officers have for investigating offences and enforcing the law; providing powers necessary for effective, modern policing and law enforcement; providing consistency in the nature and extent of the powers and responsibilities of police officers; standardisation of the way the powers and responsibilities of police officers are to be exercised; ensuring fairness to and protecting the rights of persons against whom police officers exercise powers under the PPRA; and enabling the public to better understand the nature and extent of the powers and responsibilities of police officers. The genesis of the bill being examined here today stems from section 807, the review of the act, which requires the Minister for Police to ensure the operation of the PPRA is regularly reviewed. On 5 May 2007 the then Minister for Police and Corrective Services, the Hon. Judy Spence MP, announced the commencement of the PPRA review and that the review was to be undertaken in three stages. Stage 1 consisted of internal consultation within the Queensland Police Service via a state-wide internal email to all members of the service seeking comment on areas within the PPRA that they considered required legislative reform. The initial terms of reference for stage 1 were assessing the adequacy of safeguards in terms of ensuring the provisions of the PPRA are complied with and whether particular safeguards are overly burdensome or, in fact, necessary; consolidating and simplifying powers, for example, the separate empowerment powers that relate to road hoons, motorbike noise and traffic offences; assessing the benefit of dividing the PPRA into specific purpose designed parts or acts, for example, Police Powers and Responsibilities (Investigative Powers) Act, the Police Powers and Responsibilities (Watch-House Officers) Act or the Police Powers and Responsibilities (Covert Surveillance) Act; and, finally, reviewing the need for additional powers for police officers. Stage 1 was undertaken from 5 May 2007 to 7 December 2009 and resulted in the development of 77 proposals in preparation for deliberation during stage 2. Stage 2 involved the creation of the PPRA Review Committee to examine the submissions from members of the Queensland Police Service and additional recommendations and proposals from committee members and their organisations. The Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services invited key government and non-government stakeholders to be represented on the committee, which was chaired by the honourable Wayne Wendt MP. The committee consisted of representatives from the following organisations: the Queensland Law Society, the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, Legal Aid Queensland, the Crime and Misconduct Commission, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Public Interest Monitor, the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, the Department of Communities, the Queensland Police Service, the Queensland Police Union of Employees and the Queensland Police Commissioned Officers Union of Employees. I was also on the committee representing the Queensland Police Service. The terms of reference for the PPRA Review Committee were further aligned with the objectives of the PPRA whilst remaining consistent with those relevant to stage 1 of the review. The then terms of reference for the review committee were: assessing the current safeguards that ensure fairness to, and protect the rights of, persons against whom police officers exercise powers under the PPRA; consolidating and rationalising provisions containing similar powers and responsibilities of police officers when investigating offences and enforcing the law; ensuring the exercise of the powers and responsibilities of police officers are consistent and standardised; ensuring police officers have all necessary powers for effective, modern policing and law enforcement; and ensuring the community understands the nature and extent of the powers and responsibilities of police officers as provided by the PPRA. The PPRA Review Committee met on six occasions between 7 December 2009 and 17 June 2010 inclusive.
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