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June 14th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
CABINET will not do anything that “weakens” bail laws when it reforms them later this year, Premier Barry O’Farrell promised.
It came in the wake of the Law Reform Commission report which recommended the softening of bail laws so that there was a “presumption for release” with all offences.
The report also recommended Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other “vulnerable” groups such as gays or people from a non-English speaking background be given priority when applying for bail.
After coming under fire about the report, commissioned by Attorney-General Greg Smith, Mr O’Farrell told 2GB’s Ray Hadley he had reservations about its recommendations and promised the laws would not be weakened in any way.
“I’m not saying this report’s perfect, far from it, I have got some issues with it myself. Nothing’s going to go through cabinet that will weaken the state’s bail laws,” Mr O’Farrell said.
But the Premier said the report had pointed out that the bail laws were complex and he backed suggestions by Mr Smith that bail should be more dependent on risk management assessment (in terms of the risk to witnesses and victims) rather than simply the seriousness of the offence.
Under the current system, it is harder for people charged with murder, serious sex assault, serious drug, domestic violence and firearms offences to get bail.
It’s understood senior police fought hard – but unsuccessfully to have some of the softer recommendations taken out of the report.
The Police Association warned yesterday that “the watering down of bail conditions would place the law-abiding community at risk”.
“We can’t afford to see watered down community protections in the form of soft bail conditions introduced in NSW,” Police Association president Scott Weber said.
“Strong bail laws have contributed to the great job police have done to reduce crime rates.
“Softening those laws to allow persons accused of serious and violent crimes to be released on bail would be a big step in the wrong direction.
“Victim and community protection, as well as ensuring the accused’s appearance at court, should be paramount. Giving an accused a get-out-of jail free card is not the answer.”
A spokesman for Mr Smith, who has been criticised for advocating a soft approach on crime, yesterday said: “The premier and the attorney are at one on this issue.”
Bureau of Crime Statistics figures released this week show that in local courts, 5 per cent of people are refused bail.
This rises to 35 per cent in higher courts of which 90 per cent end up being convicted.
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