Queensland's new unexplained wealth laws take effect
Monday 9 September 2013 @ 10.27 a.m. | Crime
On Friday, the Criminal Proceeds Confiscation (Unexplained Wealth and Serious Drug Offender Confiscation Order) Amendment Act 2013 commenced by proclamation signalling increased consequences for senior criminal figures, or “Mr Bigs” as they are also also known.
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Jarrod Bleijie said the Queensland Government’s drug trafficking and unexplained wealth laws send a clear message to criminals.
Under the new legislation convicted drug traffickers will be required to forfeit all of their property regardless of whether it was acquired legally or illegally. The requirement includes gifts given to others in the six years prior to the offence; however, in an attempt to avoid punishing innocent parties, allowance will be made for an offender’s dependants who will be able to apply for financial support on grounds of hardship.
According to Mr Bleijie, it is intended the new laws will function as another deterrent, as well as recompense to the community some of the significant cost drug trafficker’s crimes inflict on the community.
“These criminals’ lavish lifestyles are paid for with pain and suffering, with illicit drug use costing Queensland more than $1 billion a year. Now they will be paying back to the community.”
The new laws, said to be some of the “toughest” drug laws in Australia, are also aimed at targeting the senior crime figures who coordinate from behind the scenes but rarely commit offenses themselves: “The crime bosses who pull the strings in the background will be forced to explain where all their wealth has come from, but if they can’t, they lose it."
“In the past, they could rake in the money and let lower level criminals take the fall. From today, if the State can prove on the balance of probabilities that there is reasonable suspicion a person has been involved in a crime, the onus will be on the individual to prove they obtained their property and money legitimately."
However, according to the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA), the well-intentioned laws may not have their desired effect. ALA WA President, Tom Percy QC has commented that Mr Bleijie is mistaken if he thinks announcing unexplained wealth laws will make any difference to criminal activity. “He should come to WA. Here we have forfeiture of fully explained and legitimately acquired assets such as inheritances and real estate,” Mr Percy said. “We’ve had them for over a decade and, on top of this, we have laws that penalise totally innocent third parties. We have asset substitution laws that Henry VIII would have been ashamed of. And we still have an organised crime and drug problem that is out of control.”
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