Political reality ‘pushed ALP to break principle’ on mandatory sentencing

Labor Left heavyweights say a groundswell of community fears over crime and the anti-Semitism crisis pushed them to back Anthony Albanese’s decision to break with the party’s decades-long opposition to mandatory minimum sentences.

Former Labor senator and Left faction powerbroker Kim Carr. Picture: AAP

Labor Left heavyweights say a groundswell of community fears over crime and the anti-Semitism crisis pushed them to back Anthony Albanese’s decision to break with the party’s decades-long opposition to mandatory minimum sentences.

As the opposition called for an independent inquiry into why the Prime Minister was not immediately briefed on the discovery in January of a caravan laden with explosives, the government on Thursday gave in to Coalition demands and passed laws introducing six-year minimum jail terms for terror offences, three years for financing terrorism and one year for displaying hate symbols.

The bill also exposed division between the teal independents, as Wentworth MP Allegra Spender broke with most of the crossbench to support mandatory sentences.

While some federal MPs expressed concern that the new measures could result in unfair prosecutions of vulnerable Australians, many members of the Left faction said they believed the legislation was necessary.

“It’s the right thing to do for the time we find ourselves,” one senior Labor MP said. “I think MPs are looking around and realise we have to send a message.”

Labor’s national platform, agreed upon by the party once every parliamentary term, states mandatory sentencing doesn’t reduce crime and often leads to “unjust outcomes and is often discriminatory in practice”.

A Labor Left MP told The Australian it was not the time to “die in a ditch” over such principles when considering the broader context, such as the torching of a childcare centre and other terrorist attacks in recent months.

Another Left faction Labor source said while the government should not “forget that evidence suggests mandatory sentences do not reduce crime levels”, there was a clear need for the government to act as a growing number of constituents raised crime as a key issue.

“To be honest, I get the political reality of why they need to do it,” they said.

While one Labor MP said the mandatory sentencing was the “price that had to be paid” to get through laws responding to hate speech and increasing violence, others were critical of the government’s rejection of Greens’ amendments on Wednesday that would have seen the minimum sentencing laws have a sunset.

Former Labor senator and Left faction powerbroker Kim Carr slammed the Prime Minister for breaching the ALP’s policy platform in a move he said was “dis­appointing”.

“The truth of the matter is the Labor Party principle, as outlined in the platform, is there for a good reason,” Mr Carr, a long-term nemesis of Mr Albanese, said. “It is not a deterrent, it undermines the judiciary, undermines judicial independence and discretion. It has an electoral impact that may be negative. Labor supporters don’t like it, it doesn’t work.”

Another senior Labor source said there was some concern among the Left faction that “children committing random acts of vandalism” could be caught in the strict new laws.

It is the second time in 12 months the government has breached its national platform and introduced minimum sentences, having last done so in response to foreign criminals released under the NZYQ ruling reoffending in the community.

Despite having been critical in recent months over the Coalition’s call for minimum sentences to be introduced, Mr Albanese said the measure was needed to stop the increasing violence seen across the country. “We want people who are engaged in anti-Semitic activities to be caught, to be charged and to be put in the clink - that’s my priority,” he said in Townsville.

The Greens voted against introducing the amendments as did some teal independent MPs.

Ms Spender – who represents the electorate with the highest concentration of Jewish voters in the country – voted in favour of the ­amendment.