When I first wanted to write this, I wanted to go down a different path and explore a potential scandal that has been widely ignored however events in the Legislative Council on Wednesday 21st June have forced me to instead take a good hard look at them.
NOTE: From this point forward, there will be mentions of topics that may be disturbing and triggering to some. I am not going down this path lightly and I urge anyone who may be affected by any of the content to follow to reach out and seek support from loved ones and/or professional advice.
So, let's set the scene.
It is the year 1993 and a young 20-year-old man was planning his reign of terror on the people of Frankston. That man's name was Paul Denyer. He had harboured a desire to kill since the age of 14 and had been stalking people for a number of years. He decided it was his time to act. In February 1993, Denyer broke into a unit belonging to a woman named Donna Vanes. He murdered her cat and basically trashed the joint. After being arrested, not only did he admit to this break in but if Donna had been home, she would've been killed as well.
We now jump ahead a few months to June 1993 and the tragic murder of Elizabeth Stevens. She was travelling home by bus one night and after getting off the bus was grabbed by Denyer. He faked it to look like a couple but once they got into a private spot, Denyer strangled and murdered Elizabeth cruelly. What he did to her was unforgivable in itself but this wasn't the end.
On July 8, Denyer tried to abduct Rosza Toth at a park however this attack failed as Rosza pretended to submit but then fought him off and ran. That same night saw him commit his second murder, this time the murder of Deborah Fream. Going into the details of this is just as painful but essentially Deborah Fream died the same way that Elizabeth Stevens did.
The Frankston/Carram area by this stage was in full-blown panic, not knowing where this lunatic would strike next. It would be another 20 days before he struck with his third and final victim, that being Natalie Russell. Again, she had died the exact same way that both Elizabeth Stevens and Deborah Fream had done. Russell had fought and provided police with the DNA required to track Denyer down.
Denyer was finally arrested on the 31st of July 1993 and sentenced to 3 consecutive life terms with no chance of parole. On appeal, this was reduced to a non-parole period of 30 years. This non-parole period ran out this year.
These were heinous crimes for the times and the original judge got it right. The appeals judge got it woefully wrong and the families of these three young women have waited 30 long years for the horrendous day when they would be notified that Denyer would make a bid for parole. The Adult Parole Board denied the bid but this still didn't ease concerns.
So what does this have to do with the Victorian Government?
On Wednesday 21st June 2023, the LNP Opposition brought forward a bill to the Legislative Council titled the Corrections Amendment (Parole) Bill 2023 which was designed essentially to keep Paul Denyer behind bars for the rest of his life with NO CHANCE of parole and only to be released if he was incapacitated to the point he was about to die. Many would not have objected either if Denyer had died in prison but the essence of the bill would bring greater certainty.
What instead happened was one of the most staggering and pathetic episodes of mental gymnastics that I have had the misfortune to witness.
Leading the charge when it came to the greatest mental gymnastics of all time was Victorian Attorney-General, Jaclyn Symes. From time to time, I do keep a close check as a concerned citizen especially when it comes to the Attorney-General as they tend to do silly things which lead to unintended consequences. Up until this point, I would even venture as far as to say that Symes has not been terrible and in fact, has been an improvement on former Attorney-General Jill Hennessy.
That was until she came up and spoke on this bill and there are several things to note - Symes met with the families of the deceased and promised there were plans in the pipeline to stop people like Denyer from ever getting parole - When talking about the families, she was very respectful and I give her credit for that.
Some of the things she said, however, were just extraordinary and need to be analysed in greater detail (Quotes directly from Hansard)
"We believe in the independence of the criminal justice system - we believe in it" - Really Jaclyn? Life on the Sex Offender Registry should mean life on the Sex Offender Registry but the government elected to introduce an exemption process. If you truly believe in the independence, that exemption process shouldn't exist, right? Maybe I'm reading too much into this but the hypocrisy warning was out. "I do not think we should be establishing a precedent where we legislate every time a politician is unhappy with a court outcome or decides that a tragedy can be used for political purposes." - I'm sorry, didn't the Labor Party establish that precedent back in 2018 when they introduced legislation targeting specifically the Russell St Bomber Craig Minogue? Why is this different to that? Symes referred to this bill as a "whack-a-mole situation" - Again, the Craig Minogue one in 2018? Why is that not a whack-a-mole as you put it and this one is? The mental gymnastics to actually believe the hypocrisy you are spouting is something that needs to be studied in a big way.
"The government has put on the table a proposal. It is high level; we still need to nut it all out" - This one is a little bit complicated but given the track record of this government, it comes across as a Thought Bubble With No Substance.
This next one though was an absolute clincher and to stand there and say this particular quote, in a twisted way I do admire the chutzpah.
"When you find something that you have not done right, own it and fix it, and that is what we are going to do" - This coming from the Attorney General of a government who has spent the last 9 years blaming everyone else but itself when things have gone wrong; this coming from the Attorney-General of a government whose Premier has repeatedly thrown people under the bus; this coming from the Attorney-General of a government who refuses to answer simple questions. Let's be frank, whoever drafted that particular line of her contribution should be sacked on the spot for promoting a blatant lie.
For this last one, I had to suppress rage and the desire to break something "I do not think this legislation should pass parliament when we have a credible alternative"
- Please, let's be serious here for a second. If you have a credible alternative, where the hell...oh wait, it still needs to be nutted out. Also, how can you credibly stand there and say you have a credible alternative? Ever heard of unintended consequences? The Victorian Government are pretty good at creating those.
There were other speakers, who made valuable contributions. David Limbrick (Liberal Democrat) has a personal connection to this case being the boyfriend of Natalie Russell when she passed. Whatever you think of his politics, Limbrick has advocated on this issue for a very long time and deserves a lot of credit for his persistence. I cannot imagine his heartbreak at that time of losing his girlfriend to that evil person, but he has used that grief to push for better and that gets nothing but admiration for me.
Then it came to the vote to advance the bill into the Committee Stage where they go through each clause line by line and amendments can be proposed by anyone.
To the utter amazement of many, the bill DIDN'T get to the Committee Stage as it got voted down 19-17.
Some of these speakers spoke about the pain and grief that these families have gone through and how they would love to bring some closure in some way. Right in front of them, they had a bill that would do just that; a bill that would bring some closure to the families of Elizabeth Stevens, Deborah Fream and Natalie Russell and that's not to forget Rosza Toth and Donna Vanes who were also subjected to the evil Denyer perpetrated.
There was one unexpected surprise from the vote and that was Georgie Purcell (Animal Justice Party) voting with the Opposition on this bill. I feared when she got voted in that she would follow the Andy Meddick line and vote with the ALP every chance possible. Credit where credit is due here for Georgie but right now I am going to name and shame all those who voted against this bill in the hope there might be better forthcoming; Ryan Batchelor (ALP) John Berger (ALP) Lizzie Blandthorn (ALP) Katherine Copsey (Greens) Jacinta Ermacoma (ALP) David Ettershank (Legalise Cannabis Victoria) Michael Galea (ALP)
Shaun Leane (ALP) Sarah Mansfield (Greens) Tom McIntosh (ALP) Rachel Payne (Legalise Cannabis Victoria) Aiv Puglielli (Greens) Samantha Ratnam (Greens) Harriet Shing (ALP) Jaclyn Symes (ALP) Lee Tarlamis (ALP) Sonja Terpstra (ALP) Gayle Tierney (ALP) Sheena Watt (ALP)
I'm not surprised by the ALP vote. Yes, they were formed with the support of the unions and all that claptrap but let's be honest, they're basically mindless drones designed to follow the request of the leader under fear of expulsion if they dare to cross the floor. I'm not surprised by the Greens voting against it as Samantha Ratnam (Greens leader in Victoria) basically sells out to this government for her 5 pieces of silver on an issue and then aids the government in issues such as this. As for Legalise Cannabis Victoria, well, it seems neither of them had a conscience to do what was right either.
Where this leaves us now is waiting for this supposed Parole Reform that Jaclyn Symes has promised, the one that there's something on the table despite it still needing to be nutted out.
If anyone is tempted to reach out to these 19 individuals who had the chance to bring greater certainty to the suffering of so many people and indeed the Frankston community but welched it, I urge you to reach out respectfully. Any call or letter probably won't be read by the MP which means it's the unfortunate electorate office staff who have to deal with this. If you are tempted to reach out, register your disgust in no uncertain terms. What transpired on Wednesday was a disgrace and these MPs need to be held to account for their vote.
As I write this tonight (Thursday 22nd June), I am left heartbroken for the families of Elizabeth Stevens, Deborah Fream and Natalie Russell. I am heartbroken for the community of Frankston at that time and there are so many people that deserved better. They are the ones who deserve our support and empathy; they are the ones who above all deserve some sort of closure where Paul Denyer is NEVER RELEASED from prison.
Unfortunately due to this vote, the pain and suffering of the families of Elizabeth Stevens, Deborah Fream and Natalie Russell is prolonged. Due to this, the pain of the entire Frankston community of that time is prolonged. All this pain and suffering is prolonged due to the hypocrisy of a government that had established a precedent for legislation targeting single individuals and didn't have the courage or conviction to stick to precedent, especially for an individual as vile as Paul Denyer who has never expressed remorse for what he's done.
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