Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I joined with 110 of my parliamentary colleagues from all sides of the House and the Senate in calling for the death sentences of Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan to be commuted. In our letter to the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia we emphasised that, while we were not seeking to minimise the serious nature of the crime committed, we stand together in opposition to the death penalty for any crime.

There are so many reasons to oppose the death penalty, and international trends are overwhelmingly moving away from capital punishment towards the imposition of lengthy prison sentences for serious crimes, where prisoners have the opportunity to reform, rehabilitate and have a positive impact on the lives of many. Mr Sukumaran and Mr Chan have demonstrated genuine remorse and have become model prisoners, working constructively at Kerobokan, not only on their own rehabilitation and reform but also strongly for that of other prisoners.

On Tuesday last week I stood alongside members of the Newcastle community in solidarity at a candlelight vigil for all prisoners waiting on death row. I commend the families and friends of Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran, Amnesty International, artist Ben Quilty and the thousands of Australians who have joined together to keep hope alive for those on death row.

The criminal justice system is fallible. We know this, even though we rarely like to admit it, and it is this fallibility that, at the end of the day, is the most compelling, persuasive and winning argument against the death penalty.