Craig Minogue slams Opposition over promised ban on prison call broadcasts in latest ‘podcast’
COP killer Craig Minogue has released another “podcast” from behind bars, slamming a push to ban the broadcasts and claiming he wants to live a quiet life outside prison.
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RUSSELL St Bomber Craig Minogue has slammed a push to ban his “podcast” from behind bars and claims he just wants to live his life “out of the public and political eye” — and prison.
Minogue, who a court ruled could apply for parole this week, hit out at a Coalition push to silence his public messages.
A series of Minogue’s statements — recorded via prison phone calls — have been posted on Twitter.
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The Herald Sun today revealed the Opposition, if elected in November, would slap prisoners with phone bans if their calls were recorded and broadcast.
But Minogue said in another “podcast” posted online today that his case had been “politicised” and that there were no laws saying prisoners “must be silent and not heard outside of their confinement”.
“My preference would have been to receive parole and then quietly go about the rest of my life out of the public and political eye,” he said.
“My Twitter account is a way of my having a voice in this political situation.
“None of the content posted by me has been offensive, in fact, I think my public comments have been reasonable and rational.”
Mr Minogue also claimed in the podcast that fighting for what he believed was right gave his life meaning and he was a “long way from throwing in the towel”.
He signed off with: “Thanks for listening and I hope there’s not been too much background noise but it is very difficult to find a quiet place in a prison unit.
“Thanks for listening, bye bye now.”
PLEDGE TO CRACK DOWN ON PRISONER CALLS
A BROADCAST ban would apply to phone calls from criminals behind bars, such as police killer Craig Minogue, under a state Opposition plan.
Breaches of the ban would lead to a six-month loss of access to phones for the inmate involved, and further breaches would lead to a 12-month ban.
Those broadcasting the recordings on behalf of a prisoner would face a $10,000 fine and would be permanently removed from the prisoner’s approved call list.
Inmates would still be allowed to speak to their legal teams and to the Ombudsman.
The Coalition says it will introduce the law if it wins office in November’s state election.
Minogue has been making statements in recordings posted on Twitter, most recently this week after the High Court ruled that laws that would have thwarted any chance of his parole did not apply to him.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said that for violent criminals like Minogue “phone calls with friends” were a privilege, not a right.
“If prisoners like Craig Minogue want to broadcast their vile rants, they’ll lose these privileges under my government,” he said.
Corrections spokesman Ed O’Donohue said the ban would ensure “zero tolerance” of offensive inmate behaviour.
“Victims and their loved ones from the Russell Street bombing should not be forced to hear Craig Minogue’s voice,” he said.
Corrections Minister Gayle Tierney said that if members of the public chose to post conversations with prisoners online, it was “their business”.
“The government does not endorse, nor does it support it,” Ms Tierney said.
“Like the rest of the community, we would express (to) whoever is facilitating this activity outside prison to consider the effect of that publishing has and this information has on victims of crime.”
Minogue’s bid for parole dominated Question Time in state parliament yesterday.
The government plans to introduce further changes to the law, to keep Minogue behind bars, in the next sitting week from July 24.
Ms Tierney said he would not be paroled before then.
The Opposition unsuccessfully demanded Premier Daniel Andrews extend the parliamentary sitting week until Friday so new laws to keep Minogue locked up could be rushed through.
