Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (12:58): I am delighted to make a brief contribution to debate on the Bail Amendment (Extension of Limitation on Bail in Certain Circumstances) Bill 2025. I acknowledge the member for Sydney. Whilst I do not share his whole position, he is a man of integrity and conviction, and what he said comes from a very good place. I agree that the process of incarceration should be about rehabilitation. The Reiby Youth Justice Centre is in my electorate. Whenever I go to that place, it breaks my heart. It is right next door to the Briar Road Public School. I remember visiting the school when I was elected in 2015. During the school's morning tea and lunch breaks, the kids who were running around the school grounds were looking straight into the exercise yard of the Reiby Youth Justice Centre. I organised some shrubs to be planted, and we put a stop to that. If I had my way, the whole thing would be removed. That is my personal view—not the Government's view—relating to my electorate.
The member for Sydney made the point that it is cost worthy. I support the legislation and believe that we need to continue it. But it is important to note the point made by member for Sydney that incarceration needs to be about rehabilitation. Incarceration begins the downward spiral for children as they continue to be incarcerated. The member for Bathurst said that young people are reoffending within 48 hours, which tells us that something is wrong. It tells us that while young offenders are incarcerated, they are not being shown a different path. We must remember that these are kids. When they become disengaged they get to a T-intersection in their lives when they have to make a decision. They can go down one of two paths—the good path of engagement or the bad path.
In remote and socially economically challenged communities, most young offenders go down the wrong path, which leads to other terrible sociological law-breaking circumstances, such as violence, self‑medication through alcohol abuse and other substances. That in turn leads to mental ill health, poverty and homelessness. I believe there is an opportunity to engage with kids when they are first incarcerated to help set them on the right path. A lot of good people do that.
Debate interrupted.
Debate resumed from an earlier hour.
Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (14:31): I am delighted to continue my contribution to debate on the Bail Amendment (Extension of Limitation on Bail in Certain Circumstances) Bill 2025. When I left off, I was referring to the speech by member for Sydney, who acknowledged the importance of incarceration being about rehabilitation so that kids can change the paths of their lives. Sadly, that does not always happen. I generally get on well with the member for Bathurst, but I do not agree with his referring to specific cases. It is important that we do not disrespect or undermine the judiciary. The judiciary does the best it can with what it has. There are many good lawyers out there, both prosecution and defence. In our democracy we know that the separation between the legislature, which is us, and the judiciary is important. We must be mindful of respecting that separation and of making respectful contributions. Many members know and understand that their contributions in this place matter, particularly when establishing common law. I draw that to the House's attention.
I also acknowledge the member for Northern Tablelands, his predecessor and other regional members who work collaboratively, side by side with government and the community, to get preferred and better outcomes to address this serious issue. Many members know that I was born and raised in Dubbo in the Central West of New South Wales. I left there when I was 17 and never moved back. My parents and my brother still live there, and I know they are facing similar problems. Taking a collaborative approach in all areas, including Dubbo, will ensure that everyone is engaged to get better outcomes to address this serious issue. There are so many differences and new difficulties now compared with when I packed my bags to leave Dubbo in 1989—whether it is the types of drugs on the streets that are destroying people's lives, accessibility to those substances, or social media and other influences that are driving and motivating criminal acts. They were not around back then and we had leadership within the town and across regional New South Wales.
Nationals members may recall a fellow called Gerry Peacocke, whom my father was very good friends with. He was a well-respected, senior member of The Nationals and then member for Dubbo, and my dad used to shoot with him and enjoy other activities when they were younger. The point is to take a collaborative approach, which is why this bill is so important. I will go through the specifics of the bill because, as we know, it is extending the strict bail test that applies to young people who are accused of stealing cars and breaking into homes amid growing concerns about youth crime. People deserve to be safe in their communities, and this extension will ensure that we have better measures in place. I commend the Attorney General for taking a pragmatic approach to addressing this issue, because there are few things in society more important than personal safety. It is our role and responsibility, through legislation, to provide our authorities and, indeed, the judiciary with instruments to support that. Ultimately, that is why this bill is before us today.
More specifically, the bill amends the Bail Act 2013 to extend the operation of the temporary bail test in section 22C for an additional three years, to expire on 4 April 2028. Section 22C will sunset on 4 April 2025 unless it is extended, which is a matter for future consideration. Section 22C was introduced in 2024 to provide an additional bail test for young people aged between 14 and 18 who commit a serious break and enter offence or motor theft offence while on bail for another offence of that type. The test requires a bail authority to refuse bail unless the bail authority has a high degree of confidence that the young person will not commit a further serious indictable offence while on bail, subject to any proposed bail conditions. The extension of the provision is intended to address ongoing community concern about youth crime, particularly in regional New South Wales, and to allow sufficient time for the continued implementation of broader community-based initiatives to respond to that crime. It will also enable analysis of the impact of the provision over time. [Extension of time]
As a Western Sydney MP who was born and raised in the Central West of New South Wales, I note that the member for Bathurst, said during his contribution that the Labor Party is obsessed with western and south‑west Sydney. I can honestly say that this Government has an obsession with helping each and every electorate in New South Wales, irrespective of where it is. Many of the seats where we are taking action are not held by Labor.
Mr Gareth Ward: Name them.
Mr GREG WARREN: Northern Tablelands, Dubbo, Orange, Barwon and all over the place. It is a very valid point, and it gives me the opportunity to display that the Labor Party, as my colleague Minister Aitchison constantly states, is the party of the bush. I go further than just saying that Labor is the party of the bush; it is the party for all. I am proud of my colleagues and I am proud to be associated with this Government because good governments govern for all. We move legislation and we do everything we can to help each and every community in New South Wales. That is displayed. Funding and grants were not just allocated to Labor electorates; they were allocated to every electorate in New South Wales.
My Parliamentary Secretary colleagues and my ministerial colleagues, and in fact all of my colleagues, travel to seats far and wide to visit communities and help them. One only needs to look at Minister Aitchison's social media pages to see how far she travels. I was talking to a good mate of mine, who will remain nameless, and he was commenting on how well respected the member for Maitland is around rural and regional New South Wales. That is because she is one of them and she cares. I am done embarrassing the Minister. I make that valid point because the them-and-us approach is very unhelpful, and I do not believe it is good leadership.
Members in this place are from all over the place. There are members who live in country New South Wales but who spend a lot of time in the city. The member for Orange was a police officer at Macquarie Fields. He spent a lot of time in the metropolitan area while he was keeping us all safe during his service as a New South Wales police officer. He now finds himself in the beautiful City of Orange, which I am very familiar with as well. The bill is necessary because communities need to be kept safe. On this issue, we need to focus on delivering the outcomes for those communities, because we are stronger together. This Parliament's role is to serve each and every electorate equally and provide legislation that gives the judiciary and the authorities the powers and what they need to keep local families safe.
To conclude, I reiterate my point. I know many members agree with incarceration and the Government is very determined to achieve that, but it needs to be about rehabilitation to change the course of the direction of a young person's life that is otherwise going in the wrong direction. That is so important, because it can ruin their lives. That is on display in some of the remote areas of New South Wales that most of the time feel very disengaged. The bill shows that the Government is determined to engage with them.
