22 February

Govt Supports Principles Of Cleaning The Slate Bill

Justice Minister Phil Goff welcomed the introduction of Nandor Tanczos' private members bill aimed at sealing minor criminal convictions after a certain period of non re-offending.

"I am conscious of the plight of people who cannot free themselves of the stigma of old minor convictions no matter how successful their rehabilitation has been. I have received many heart-rending letters from people who are now in their seventies who still suffer from the fear of having revealed convictions for misdemeanours committed when they were in their teens.

"A similar bill aimed at sealing minor criminal convictions was also in the ballot under the name of Damien O'Connor MP and a Government bill with the same purpose was scheduled for introduction later this year.

"The Government bill envisaged sealing minor convictions (those resulting in a non-custodial sentence or a prison sentence of less than three months) after ten years of non re-offending.

"The Government will support this private member's bills' referral to Select Committee and after hearing public submissions is likely to adopt the bill with relevant amendments," Mr Goff said.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>