Police Offences Amendment (Increased Penalties for Damage to Tasmanian War Memorials) Bill 2026 (No 5)
Wednesday 12 August 2026
[5.18 p.m.]
Ms ARMITAGE (Launceston) - Thank you, Mr President. I'd like to acknowledge the member for Bass and also the minister for Police, who's only just left in the back of the Chamber. I thank the honourable Leader for bringing forward the bill and I welcome the opportunity to speak on it. I believe it's important that we provide on the record the emphasis our communities place on war memorials and why it's necessary to deter vandalism and properly penalise those who damage them. As the Leader mentioned, war memorials are not just physical objects; they possess an unspoken symbolism that gives us an opportunity to reflect, show gratitude from communities, remember the past, and imagine a future without violence. I think we all know how many people now turn up to our Anzac Day and other ceremonies, particularly children, and it's great to see so many actually come along and appreciate what has gone before.
It's for these reasons that war memorials possess a sacred quality making vandalism of them much worse. Damage done to a war memorial is symbolic of the damage it does to the fabric of the community. Harming the monument itself harms those who care for it and find meaning in its message. I understand that the purpose of this bill is threefold: firstly, to increase the maximum number of penalty units for the offence from 25 to 500, or a term of imprisonment not exceeding seven years; secondly, to provide that where reasonable in the circumstances, a court is to make a community correction order requiring the offender to perform community service in the community where the offence occurred; and thirdly, to ensure that those responsible for causing damage are ordered to pay for that damage at the point of conviction.
Committing vandalism against these symbols does deep social and spiritual harm to our communities. This bill sends a message that we take this extremely seriously. If a person does vandalise a war memorial, you will be found out, you will be penalised and you will understand just how deep and serious harming a memorial really is. I do wish to acknowledge the hard work of the member for Bass Michael Ferguson, for taking this bill through the other place. I'd also like to acknowledge Peter Williams of the RSL northern Tasmania and John Hardy, the CEO of RSL Tasmania, who has just written to us recently, who I know care extremely deeply about the wider RSL community, and they work very hard to make their lives better. I also note that there are several amendments proposed for the bill and I look forward to debate on them.
