My name is Jasmine Robinson.

I am campaigning to have the injustice of allowing people who have committed criminal acts that cause death from obtaining parole for good behaviour and time already served and serve their whole sentence for their crime. The families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives don’t get time off from the constant pain and suffering of their loss.

In fact, their pain and suffering is only increased when the person who caused the death of a loved one is paroled after serving only months after being sentenced. What does that say about the worth of in most cases an innocent life lost. Not much. If you commit the crime, then you should be prepared to do the time.

In Queensland Parole is governed by the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 and the Corrective Services Act 2006. Court-ordered parole can be either a date set by the court for a parole release date or a set date for when a person is eligible to apply for parole once sentenced. I want these annulled and for the parole legislation to be reformed.

I am also campaigning to improve our justice system through the initiation of harsher penalties for people sentenced for illegal selling and supplying of illegal substances who had aggravated factors including; selling to a minor, intellectually impaired or is in school. I am also pushing for the introduction to the court of appeal, that when someone pleads guilty and appeals that the court hears the entire case and not just the subject of the appeal.  

In March 2019, my seventeen-year-old niece Zoe was illegally supplied a substance, which the supplier deemed to be meth, however, this substance caused the passing of my beautiful niece in the early hours of that morning. Three hours later, an ambulance was called after hours of her being unresponsive and clearly in distress.

The supplier pleaded guilty to the charge of illegal supplying drugs to a minor, however, due to him pleading guilty prior to the supreme court hearing of appeal, the court only heard the subject of the appeal and not that due to his actions my niece was taken from her loved ones. He was sentenced to merely 9 years with a parole date set for the following July, even though he had numerous other criminal offences which include but aren’t not limited to illegal distribution of weaponry, drugs etc.

I am appalled that the worth of someone’s life can be depicted by the court as a prison sentence of 9 years and parole after only 14 months’ imprisonment. I am championing the peoples voice and speaking for all the victims who can no longer speak. I am speaking for the families, relatives and friends who lost a mass without a reprieve from the pain, a part of their lives they don’t get to ‘apply for them to come back’. I am campaigning for truth in sentencing as opposed to sentences immediately being reduced for a plea of guilty and time spent in remand.

I am campaigning for no parole for people who choose to commit these crimes even though they know the penalties and the revocation of mandatory parole. These people revoke their right to freedom upon the continuation of supplying and selling even when they know the possible consequence of their action is the taking of a life. Through this repulsive act they have removed the ability for Zoe to live, love and enjoy her life. I demand that in return these people forfeit their right to life and are punished with life imprisonment.

The sadness, injustice and horror of this incident will forever live with my brother, his family and the rest of my family. The legal system has been supported to empower the perpetrators of crime and injustice with the lessening of resources being allocated to the victims of crime. People shouldn’t have to continue to suffer more by watching these criminals get off after already enduring loss.

I am advocating for the victims like my niece Zoe and their relatives like my brother and his family who will forever endure this pain.