SEX
OFFENDER — VICTOR IAN MELVILLE — EXTRADITION
843. Hon PETER COLLIER to
the Leader of the House representing the Attorney General:
I ask this question on behalf of Hon
Michael Mischin, who is on urgent parliamentary business.
I refer to convicted sex offender
Victor Ian Melville, who on Friday, 14 August 2020 pleaded guilty via video
link to New South Wales to further offences against his daughters committed in
New South Wales during the 1980s.
(1) Is he the subject of any charges
in Western Australia?
(2) If yes, what charges, and can
the Attorney General provide the particulars of those charges?
(3) Given that he
is on remand for sex offences akin to the 32 for which he was convicted in
2005, which led to him being jailed for 10 years, is he at large in Western Australia?
(4) What are the
conditions of his bail and other restrictions on his movements?
(5) What steps
are being taken to have him removed to New South Wales for sentencing and when
will this happen?
(6) Pending his removal to New South Wales, what steps
has the Attorney General and the Western Australian government taken and
what steps is the Attorney General and the government proposing to take to
ensure that he is not at large pending sentence; and, if none, why not?
(7) What steps
are being taken to ensure that he does not flee Western Australia to avoid
sentencing in New South Wales?
Hon SUE ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the
question.
(1)–(4)
These questions should be directed to the minister representing the Minister
for Police.
(5)–(6)
As the member knows, the decision to extradite Mr Melville to New South Wales
rests with the New South Wales authorities.
Although the Western Australian government cannot intervene in this criminal
matter before the New South Wales courts, the WA Attorney General wrote to Hon
Mark Speakman, MP, the New South Wales Attorney
General, on 21 August 2020 to bring to his attention concerns about Mr Melville's
New South Wales court matters that were raised earlier by one of Mr Melville's
victims.
(7) This
question should be directed to the minister representing the Minister for Police.