Defined Terms

Penal Populism  or  Tough on Crime

Newspaper articles - 'Tough on Crime' evidence that the proponents of Tough on Crime, most notably 2GB 'shock jock', Ray Hadlee and Alan Jones, have influenced a lot of politicians to encourage incarceration and longer jail sentences.

 

The familiar mantra by shock jock, Ray Hadley, 'et al' about being 'tough on crime' seemingly resonates with his particular audience and has influenced how politicians expend the Public Purse:

 

"According to Mr Pelly, the pressure came largely from one source: 2GB’s Ray Hadley.

Ray has very solid links to the police and has a very particular view about law and order policy, and his voice is extremely influential.’

Each parliamentary office up at Parliament has a radio selection. And I can assure you that from 9 o clock to 12 o'clock, I'd say 80 per cent of parliamentarians had Ray Hadley on the radio and had Ray Hadley telling them for a good four months that Greg Smith is soft on crime, was a raving lunatic, that Barry O’Farrell should sack him.

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"Baldry says prison overcrowding is a product of failed political leadership, and shows governments are unable to withstand the populist compulsion to incarcerate and appear tough on crime.

“I think it’s also a failure of intellectual or evidence-based leadership,” Baldry says. “I have talked to a number of treasurers over decades in NSW, for example, and laid out in front of them the cost of doing this.

In many ways, many people in the public service understand this and do put these kinds of arguments forward. But, you know, treasurers and other ministers, when I talk to them, and this is both sides of politics, they say, ‘Look, I know that, I understand that, but it will just not fly with the public. It just will not fly with the cabinet.’'

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Below are extracts from How can governments reduce the number of prisoners that reoffend after release? - ABC Background Briefing - 18 May 2014 

Tackling recidivism is not politically popular, however. The last NSW politician who tried was the recently dumped Attorney-General, Greg Smith.

His former media advisor, legal journalist Michael Pelly, says Mr Smith’s interest in keeping people out of jail, where possible, was popular for a while—including with the new Premier, Mike Baird, who was then the treasurer. Prison numbers came down, and jails were closed.

‘The treasurer thought this was tremendous,’ says Mr Pelly. ‘Less money: $70,000 a year for an adult, $250,000 a year for a juvenile.’

‘That adds up to a lot of hospital beds you can provide. And a lot of deficit and infrastructure you can build. And that was all going very well until the pressure went on, and the whole notion that anybody would be seen as soft on crime.’

According to Mr Pelly, the pressure came largely from one source: 2GB’s Ray Hadley.

‘Ray has very solid links to the police and has a very particular view about law and order policy, and his voice is extremely influential.’

‘Each parliamentary office up at Parliament has a radio selection. And I can assure you that from 9 o clock to 12 o'clock, I'd say 80 per cent of parliamentarians had Ray Hadley on the radio and had Ray Hadley telling them for a good four months that Greg Smith is soft on crime, was a raving lunatic, that Barry [O’Farrell] should sack him.’

Gradually, Mr Smith lost the support of his colleagues. Mr Pelly says he was frustrated that amid the noise of the law and order rhetoric, the fact that the Attorney-General was aiming for a safer community was lost.

‘This is the whole folly of the exercise. That it doesn't allow for a nuanced approach.’

‘Don't forget we were a penal colony, founded on the idea that people could get a fresh start. Macquarie emancipated the convicts, made them productive members of society.’

Changes to the justice system and attitudes to incarceration

2.25 Evidence received noted that the public response to crime in Australia has grown increasingly punitive. Generally, the public perception of crime is at odds with the actual incidence and trends in crime. This is attributed, in part, to the portrayal of crime in the media, especially more violent and sensational crime.23 The Australian Justice Reinvestment Project stated many of the changes to judicial policy, such as mandatory sentencing, parole changes and restrictions to bail, have followed 'media-driven law and order campaigns around individual cases or as part of election campaigns seeking to demonstrate "tough on crime" credentials and sympathy towards victims of crime'.24

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Below is an extract from Indigenous incarceration rates are not an intractable problem – we have the solutions - The Guardian  - 20 Feb 2017:

History has shown us time and time again that punitive “tough on crime” and top-down approaches are ineffective at making our communities safer. And yet, tragically, our governments continue to resort to “lock them up” politics.

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Newspaper articles - 'Tough on Crime'

Ray Hadley slams 'weak-kneed' justice system for king-hit killer Kieran Loveridge's four-year jail term

Child sex abuse case leaves emotional Ray Hadley struggling to speak

Clogging prisons in the name of tough politics

Back to prison - Background Briefing  18 May 2014

Victoria's tough on crime policy 'seriously flawed' - The Australian - Nov 2014

The verdict: tougher laws on crime can be expensive - Jan 2014  According to the polls, anyway, it's almost always a winner to get tough on crime, tough ...

Our criminal approach to law and order  -  SMH  -  January 27, 2003

Scaring up the votes  -  SMH  -  January 27, 2003

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Journal article

Tough on crime - The rhetoric and reality of property crime and feeling safe in Australia - The Australia Institute - Aug 2013 - David Baker

Time for prison reform across Australian states  - ABC - The World Today  -  26 Feb 2007

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NSW Criminal Courts Statistics 2017

"Between 2013 and 2017, the annual number of convicted offenders receiving a prison sentence rose from 9,570 to 13,042, an increase of 36 per cent. A little more than half (53%) of this growth is a result of increased numbers of court appearances, with the remainder being due to an increase in the proportion of convicted offenders being given a prison sentence."

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"Talking tough constantly, increasing the number of offences for which you can be charged, increasing the penalties if you are caught and prosecuted and a relentless policing of bail makes the overall justice system more punitive," Dr Clancey said. "The debate is, is that necessary, particularly at a time we've had declining crime."

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Australian PM threatens strawberry saboteurs with 15 years in jail Politicians threatening longer jail sentences has always been a vote winner and an easy solution.

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Below is an extract from Reconsidering traditional custodial sentencing policies and practices [2018] - John Nicholson SC:

"The politics of tougher sentencing

A law and order auction commenced as a political enticement to voters in the mid-1980s, offering a tough approach to so-called rising crime rates. Since then, politicians, police, radio shock jocks and victims of crime have called for tougher sentences as a means of reducing crime. Legislation aimed at truth in sentencing,[22] creation of higher maximum penalties, and of new offences where old ones adequately covered the offending behaviour, has resulted in increased imprisonment. Yet the expected remedy of reduced crime rates through sentencing was elusive. Falls in crime rates result from other factors such as better policing and relevant community-based programs. Recidivism rates would suggest that tougher sentencing is counter-productive.

Sadly, many CCA judges were attracted to the reasoning of the legislators driving the law and order debate. Tougher and tougher sentences were imposed. Prior to the law and order phenomenon, sentences for mid-range murders ranged from 10 to 16 years. Currently, the starting point for a mid-range murder might be 16 years but might now extend beyond 20+ years. Current penalties for less serious offences have also increased."

 

 

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