By Hamish Hastie
Western Australian police will be given extraordinary powers to “instantly” ban thugs from five Perth party precincts under new laws to be introduced to parliament later this year.
Anyone convicted of serious offences committed in those precincts will be automatically banned from the areas for five years.
The proposed laws were developed with advice from WA Police but have drawn criticism from top Perth barrister Tom Percy KC, who described them as an overreaction.
Protected Entertainment Precincts will be created in Northbridge/Perth, Fremantle, Scarborough, Hillarys and Mandurah with boundaries to be finalised before the laws come into effect.
In addition to the mandatory five-year bans, WA Police will also get the power to issue six-month exclusion notices to people acting in unlawful, indecent or threatening ways in a precinct with approval from an Inspector level officer.
The precincts will be known as PEPs to honour nightclub manager Giuseppe “Pep” Raco, who died after an unprovoked one-punch attack in Northbridge in July 2020.
Raco’s widow, Enzo Raco, has led a campaign for tougher penalties for coward punches, including the ‘coward’s collar’ laws that included precinct bans for violent offenders.
Enzo gave a heartfelt statement welcoming the proposed laws alongside Premier Mark McGowan and Racing and Gaming Minister Tony Buti.
“We are now presented with a solution to a major problem in the entertainment precincts across Perth that continually experience this type of behaviour that took my husband’s life,” she said.
“Now Pep will help save others, see? It was not in vain.
“This post-sentence law has gone beyond what I had hoped for and I believe it will be a large step in keeping families like mine safe and preventing horrific attacks on innocent people like Pep and the many others who have suffered greatly from these senseless acts of violence.”
The five-year mandatory exclusion law will apply to anyone convicted of violent and sexual offences in the precincts including murder, sexual penetration without consent and unlawful assault causing death, along with drink spiking offences.
Breaches of this exclusion faced a penalty of up to five years imprisonment and a $12,000 fine.
Beefed-up move-on notices
The police-issued exclusions can last for up to six months for people behaving in “an unlawful, antisocial, disorderly, offensive, indecent and threatening way in a precinct.
Subjects of exclusion orders above one month will be able to apply to the liquor licensing director to challenge the order if they believe it is unfair.
Orders will only be granted by senior WA Police officers at the Inspector level or above and decisions will be based on guidelines that WA Police themselves have been tasked with drafting.
Buti said an exclusion order could be issued instantaneously and rejected concerns about the power given to police.
“[Officers] can communicate with the Inspector back at the station and if the inspector agrees with the need for the exclusion order to be granted, the short-term exclusion order will be granted,” he said.
“It’s excluding someone from a precinct, not putting them in jail.”
Police already can already issue 24-hour move-on notices and Buti denied the proposed exclusion orders were just move-ons on steroids.
“This is all about protecting people doing the right thing. We do not apologise for wanting to keep thugs out of our entertainment precincts. And that’s what we’ll be doing,” he said.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said exclusion order decisions would be made using body-worn camera footage, CCTV and reports from the officer on the ground.
“It’s a collective that makes a decision with the advice from the officer on the ground as to whether or not an exclusion order is appropriate,” he said.
People will be granted exemptions from the ban for work, residential, education, health and other approved purposes.
When questioned about what the proposed laws meant for homeless people who frequented one of the five precincts but were issued with an exclusion order Buti said they would still be able to access services in those precincts.
“We will be in consultation with all the relevant local government authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that there are services that need to be accessed by homeless people or others, they’ll be able to get access,” he said.
‘Well intentioned but regressive’
Percy said the new laws were well-intentioned but any form of legislation that continued to penalise people for past convictions was “regressive and undesirable”.
“This law seems to be structured on the proposition that, for the most part, people who’ve violently offended on previous occasions will continue to do so and particularly in specific areas,” he said.
“That’s, in my view, a very broad assumption. One which isn’t established by the facts.
“It seems to me that the current proposal is an overreaction to a number of high-profile cases, some of which involve recidivist offenders.”
Percy also said the likelihood of offenders getting caught was remote.
“It’s a bit like taking someone’s driver’s license off them, it’s a bit of an honour system and people will only respond proportionately to what they perceive is the risk of being caught,” he said.
“That’s why so many people drive without a license.”
Percy said the most effective tool against violent behaviour in these precincts was increased police presence.
“The only thing, historically, that’s worked both here and overseas and in particular, places like New York is a manifestly increased police presence,” he said.
“The simple fact in law and order is that people tend to commit far less crime when there is a large and visible police presence.”
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch told 6PR officers would be able to spot offenders quickly.
“Our police are pretty good at remembering faces and names and knowing people who are causing the most trouble,” he said.
“They will be on the constant lookout for those who have been excluded from those zones and making sure they keep those zones safe for families and people wanting to enjoy themselves.”
Blanch said he was already saturating the Perth CBD and Northbridge with police.
“We’ve seen a number of horrific incidents in the past and it’s the most important thing for me as police commissioner is to make sure I’ve got police presence here,” he said.
Blanch said the new laws gave them greater powers than what was currently offered under the Liquor Control Act to identify troublemakers.