Victorian opposition leader Brad Battin says a Liberal government would introduce a policy that requires and prisoner who is convicted of a sex crime to be housed in a facility that corresponds with their sex assigned at birth.
‘Any person convicted of sexual offences who is a biological male should not be in a female prison.” Battin told Sky News earlier this week.
The opposition leader said he believed it is a move the Allan Labor government could make by introducing legislation or just instructing prison officials to follow a government directive.
“We believe in freedom of choice, I believe you can identify however you like, that doesn’t phase me or impact me, but when it does impact vulnerable people – particularly in the prison system I think that needs to be taken into consideration.” Battin said.
The opposition leader was responding to a campaign that has highlighted that a transgender woman convicted of sexually assaulting her own five year old daughter had been given a sentence that took her gender dysphoria and experience of changing genders in to account as a mitigating factor during sentencing, and the decision of Corrections Victoria to house the offender in a female facility.
Asked about the case this week Premier Jacinta Allan said she would not intervene in the case and said saying the circumstances were ones for the department to manage.
The premier said she would not comment on a specific case and added, “I respect and support the work of Corrections Victoria to consider the placement of prisoners, as appropriate, across the prison system.”
The premier said it would “deeply inappropriate” for her to a minister to be “reaching into Corrections Victoria and directing the placement of any prisoner.”
Allan’s response has drawn criticism from the Murdoch Press who have argued across it’s late night opinion programs and columns in newspapers that it shows the premier is not a suitable leader.
