Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (11:34): My question is addressed to the Minister for Veterans. Will the Minister update the House on the Minns Labor Government's commitment to ensure that war memorials across New South Wales are treated with the reverence and the respect that they deserve?
The SPEAKER: Opposition members will come to order. Their behaviour was inappropriate.
Mr DAVID HARRIS (Wyong—Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, Minister for Gaming and Racing, Minister for Veterans, Minister for Medical Research, and Minister for the Central Coast) (11:34): I thank the member for Campbelltown and acknowledge his previous service in the Australian Defence Force. I acknowledge all other members of this place who have served in the Defence Force and extend that deep respect to any people in the audience today who have served our country and to their families. The Minns Labor Government is committed to protecting our State's precious war memorials and supporting veterans in preserving them. That is why this week the Government will introduce the Crimes Legislation Amendment (War Memorial Offences) Bill 2025 to enhance the legal framework protecting over 3,000 war memorials across the State.
I particularly acknowledge President of RSL NSW Mick Bainbridge and his team. I acknowledge the constructive way RSL NSW has worked with the Attorney General, his team and me to develop a sensible set of reforms. The bill is about doing right by our veterans, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy today. War memorials hold a special place in the hearts of all local communities, which is why our Government is making sure the courts have the toughest possible penalties available to protect those memorials. The bill will amend section 195 of the Crimes Act to create a new offence of intentionally or recklessly destroying or damaging a war memorial. It increases the maximum penalty from five to seven years imprisonment for intentionally or recklessly damaging a war memorial.
The bill also amends section 8 of the Summary Offences Act to introduce a discretionary compensation order. This provision will allow the court to order a person who is convicted of an offence under section 8 in relation to a war memorial to pay the person who has control or management of the war memorial compensation for damage or defacement to the war memorial, or a loss incurred as a result of the offence. A compensation order will be able to be made in addition to any criminal penalty imposed in relation to the offence. When those compensation orders are made, it will mean that RSLs, councils or other community organisations will not be responsible for paying for repairs or clean-up. That cost can be passed onto the convicted person.
The SPEAKER: Members will come to order. This is not a debate. I direct the member for Hawkesbury to remove herself from the Chamber until the end of question time.
[Pursuant to standing order the member for Hawkesbury left the Chamber at 11:37.]
Mr DAVID HARRIS: This change comes off the back of calls from members of RSL NSW sub‑branches, specifically the Ourimbah-Lisarow sub-Branch in the electorate of the member for The Entrance. [Extension of time]
The organisation passed a motion at its most recent congress calling for the enhanced protection of recognised war memorials, including memorial parks, and to have them recognised as sacred sites; the introduction of punishments more appropriate to the offence of vandalism of those sites by increasing the penalties; and the granting of specific powers for the making of suitable reparation orders requiring convicted offenders to meet the cost of restoration and remediation following acts of vandalism. Those calls came from RSL members. The Government, and in particular the Attorney General's team, has been working constructively to make sure that what the Government puts forward actually works and meets the requests of the veterans. People are trying to claim ownership of this, but it was the veterans themselves who moved it at their congress. It was a motion from one of those RSL sub-branches.
The SPEAKER: All members will come to order.
Mr DAVID HARRIS: As a government, we had to make sure that those penalties were consistent with other Acts, and a range of Acts are affected by this. The Attorney General and his team have worked diligently to produce a bill that addresses all of those issues. As members of the House, we always want to make sure that the legislation introduced is workable and can be applied across all situations and circumstances. When the bill is introduced, I urge members to talk about memorials in their community and how important they are, not just to service men and women but also to their families and to everybody in our communities.
The SPEAKER: The Minister acknowledged the RSL NSW president, Mick Bainbridge, in the gallery, and I welcome him. I also acknowledge the RSL NSW board director, Paul-Raymond James. They are welcome to the Legislative Assembly.
