The first anti stalking laws in Australia were a Wells initiative, but where Queensland led on this issue the other states quickly followed. At the time though, stalking laws, which after all involve penalising someone for merely putting someone else in fear, represented a radical departure from established criminal law principles. Introducing the Bill, Wells (typically) used conservative language to support a radical initiative.
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As this Government has taken a principled and consistent stand against the use of violence in our community, it is entirely appropriate that the sort of behaviour which is known as stalking should be made a criminal offence . . .
The Government believes that the people of this State are entitled to be able to go about the lawful business of their daily lives without fear that their lives, or those of their children, are going to be disrupted by the unwanted interference of obsessional individuals. The Government believes that the law is entitled to require that in democratic Queensland personal relations should only be entered into by the mutual consent of both parties. The Government believes that the people of Queensland are entitled to feel safe in their own homes.
Queensland Parliamentary Debates 1993 |
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