A BILL which would keep Frankston serial killer Paul Denyer behind bars for good has been rejected by the state government.
Denyer murdered Elizabeth Stevens, Deborah Fream, and Natalie Russell in 1993. He is now eligible for parole having served a 30-year sentence.
The bill would have prevented Denyer from making repeated parole applications – similar restrictions have been placed on Julian Knight and Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue in the past. The bill was voted down 19 votes to 17 in the upper house last Wednesday.
Labor, Greens, and Legalise Cannabis Party MPs combined to reject the proposal.
Denyer has already applied for parole once. Shadow corrections minister Brad Battin said “whilst we trust the Adult Parole Board, the Liberals and Nationals believe the families of Natalie Russell, Elizabeth Stevens and Debbie Fream should not be forced to re-live their trauma.”
“The Andrews government have flagged major changes to the parole system. Now, the onus is on them to deliver on their promise,” he said.
Leader of the opposition in the legislative council Georgie Crozier told parliament last week that the proposed bill would keep Denyer behind bars “unless the parole board is satisfied that his death is imminent or he is seriously incapacitated to the extent that he lacks the capacity to harm another person.”
“The families and friends of Denyer’s victims deserve to have assurance beyond doubt that he will remain in jail for the rest of his life. While nothing will end the enduring pain of the victim’s families and their friends, this bill will end the uncertainty of the possibility of his release into the community,” she said.
Denyer’s first application for parole was denied by the Adult Parole Board in May.
Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke did not respond to questions from The Times.
Last week, Premier Daniel Andrews said that broader changes to parole rules may be in the works. He said that serial killers could be banned from applying for parole for five years.
“It is the government’s intention to develop changes to the law that would avoid potential, and on some reckoning likely, challenges to the High Court. We do not think that any family, least of all the families in question here, benefits from a potentially long and very, very challenging process in the High Court,” Andrews said in parliament last Wednesday, 22 June. “It is the considered view of the government that each and every one of these individual specific provisions make it more likely that these matters will not only appear before the High Court but could be subject to an adverse judgement.
“We think there is a way forward to limit access to parole for those who have been convicted of these sorts of offences who have already had at least one go before the adult parole board, putting in a time limit. And secondly, for those who have not meaningfully participated in rehabilitation programs, who have effectively shown no interest at all in being rehabilitated whatsoever, making it impossible for them to petition to appear before the adult parole board.”
Denyer is 51-years-old. The state government’s opposition to last week’s bill has been publicly slammed by friends and family of Denyer’s victims.