Dozens of Indonesians who crewed boats carrying asylum seekers to Australia will no longer face mandatory five-year jail terms if convicted of people smuggling, after the Gillard government moved yesterday to restore judicial discretion.
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon will now take the extraordinary step of issuing a directive to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions so that first-time offenders and ”low-culpability crew” can be charged with offences that do not carry mandatory prison terms.
The directive will enable prosecutors of more than 20 cases slated for hearing in the County Court in Victoria, and dozens in other states, to change charges so that judges can take into account whether offenders were duped into working on boats by those profiting from people smuggling.
The decision came as the government announced the biggest increase in Australia’s refugee intake in three decades – from 13,750 to 20,000 – would go ahead this financial year to encourage asylum seekers to have their claims processed before risking their lives on leaky boats.
Stressing the carrot-and-stick strategy proposed by the government’s expert panel, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said there were now two clear messages for asylum seekers – if they boarded boats they risked being sent to Nauru or Manus Island, but if they stayed put and had their claims processed, there were more resettlement places in Australia. Ms Roxon said she had been working with her department on alternatives for mandatory sentencing following the expert panel’s report and a sustained outcry from judges and legal aid groups.
Earlier this month, Judge Liz Gaynor launched a scathing attack on mandatory sentencing laws under which a poor, grieving Indonesian, described by one of his passengers as a ”fine and noble man” was sent to jail for five years.
