I spoke to the member for Mersey in relation to this matter some time ago and I am very pleased that she brought this matter forward. It is a matter that needs to be debated in this Chamber. I do not think there would be too many people here who could really relate to what Mr Wisniewski went through. I doubt that very much. I do not think we can understand the devastation that one would feel if either you were charged or a member of your family was charged with a very serious criminal offence where, if convicted, you would certainly serve a long term of incarceration, and particularly if you were innocent or if your family knew you were innocent of that charge, as Peter Wisniewski was. The member for Nelson has referred to it - thank goodness for DNA. I have little doubt in this situation that Mr Wisniewski may well have still been in jail. The investigation would have concluded without DNA. To me, it is an atrocious situation that this State, this country, does not have in position a clear situation where an innocent person who has been charged with a crime and has served time in jail or on remand, as it was in this instance, has no position in relation to compensation being provided by the Government or through other sources.

In the case in question we have a relatively young person, a family person with two children, being charged with a despicable crime, an atrocious crime, which is not condoned by anybody, when he was absolutely innocent, having not been involved in any way whatsoever, and finding himself incarcerated. His only involvement in this whole matter was that he had performed legitimate work for the victim. His only crime was working for his family; he was earning an income. There is evidence that this has devastated him, has ruined his life and obviously impacted heavily on the close friends and other persons associated with him. I understand his relationship with his partner did break down, although I am not certain whether it was as a result of this. I wonder at the devastation that would be felt to have the police roll up, accusing you of a serious crime in which you know that you have not been involved in any way whatsoever, only to find yourself a short time later charged with the crime and remanded in custody. I think it is beyond the comprehension of any of us to understand just how you would feel i n those circumstances. Try to put yourself in the position of Mr Wisniewski and imagine how you would react. A family person, a person working and having done nothing wrong, confronted with what he was confronted with.

Mr Parkinson - But you're not suggesting the police did the wrong thing either?

Mr DEAN - I am.
Peter Wisniewski went through all this and I suspect all he ever received from the police department or the Government would have been perhaps a 'sorry'. I think the member for Mersey indicated he did not even receive an apology for what he had been put through. I just cannot understand why that would be the situation. One would have thought that he would have been given personal apologies, written apologies, that they would have done everything possible to try to correct some of the wrong that had been done, but it did not occur. It is just not acceptable in this day and age, and certainly not acceptable in this good country, the country that we call Australia.

Mr Parkinson - Who should the apology have come from?

Mr DEAN - It certainly should have come from the Police department.

Mr Parkinson - Why? What did they do wrong?

Mr DEAN - The police arrested a completely innocent man.

Mr Parkinson - But that doesn't make it wrong.

Mr DEAN - There is case law in relation to that. It makes it wrong, in my opinion, if the grounds for arresting -

Mr Parkinson - In your opinion? Let's hear about the basis of your opinion.

Mr DEAN - were not reasonable in the first place.

Mr Parkinson - So you are saying that the grounds for arrest were not reasonable?

Mr DEAN - I am going to come to that, but what I am going to say -

Mr Parkinson - I dispute that.

Mr DEAN - As I understand the evidence, at the time of the arrest there was a strong denial by Peter Wisniewski that he had done anything wrong. We had the evidence of an elderly person whom I understand was suffering from sight problems, dementia and a hearing problem as well.

Mr Parkinson - I don't know that you should be using the Parliament to criticise the police without a proper basis for doing so.

Mr DEAN - Knowing all of that, I think there ought to have been a very close challenging of the position that the victim was putting forward. She too would have been traumatised at the time and no doubt traumatised to a high degree. I have some concern that an arrest takes place despite the strong denial. I am not sure whether or not there were any alibis. Perhaps the member for Mersey would know whether or not Mr Wisniewski was able to show that he had an alibi for the time of the alleged crime.

Mrs Jamieson - Yes, he did.

Mr DEAN - That adds to it again, that Mr Wisniewski did bring forward an alibi.

Mr Parkinson - Even the honourable member for Nelson, as I understand it, has not accused the police of improper behaviour in this case, which you are doing now.

Mr DEAN - What I am saying, and do not put the words into my mouth, Mr Leader, is that the evidence on which the arrest took place, in my opinion -

Ms Thorp - Have you seen it?

Mr DEAN - was not really reasonable in all of the circumstances.

Ms Thorp - There is a lot more to evidence than an interview.

Mrs Jamieson - Through you, Mr President - the interview did clearly say that Peter had been to visit other people. He gave their names and eventually gave the address. He could not remember it at first. He was under quite a lot of pressure of course and it was not until page 11 that he even knew what he was being called in for.

Mr DEAN - To me to accept the evidence of the victim alone, without other supporting evidence, was not a good decision. As I understand it, from comments in the Mercury , it was later indicated by a senior police officer on the north-west coast that the people of that area were expecting an early arrest to take place or words to that effect. But I would suggest that the people would be wanting the right person to be arrested. They would be wanting offender to be arrested, not just anybody. So I had some concerns about that statement as well.

I just question the investigative work that was carried out on this occasion. I also raise the fact that working on the evidence that they were provided with, knowing that semen had been taken from the victim, they would have known that DNA testing was under way, and in that situation I am not quite sure whether or not the process could have been speeded up, but I understand it can be in certain circumstances. As to when the DNA testing was done and why there could not have been a delay in carrying out that arrest for one, two, three, four days or whatever was required for the DNA testing to come back, I wonder why -

Mr Parkinson - A question of public interest may well answer that. You're second-guessing the whole thing.

Mr DEAN - No, I am not second-guessing.

Mr Parkinson - Can I ask you this: do you have access to the police files?

Mr DEAN - I am not second-guessing at all.

Mr Parkinson - Have you had access to the police files?

Mr DEAN - No, I have not.

Mr Parkinson - You took a while to answer that. Of course you haven't.

Mr DEAN - I am not taking a while to answer it. No, I have not seen the police file in relation to it.

Mr Parkinson - Of course you haven't. Therefore you lack most of the detail that you would need to make the conclusions that you are making in this House and that is why I think it is improper.

Mr DEAN - No. I have raised the issue of the DNA testing and the question of when the DNA testing was done, at what stage was it done -

Ms Thorp - Surely that is the role of this man's lawyer in the court system.

Mr DEAN - I am raising a number of issues here that I believe are reasons for Mr Wisniewski now being given some support and some financial support and that is what this motion is about.

The comment was made that if compensation was paid in this case that it would likely to open the floodgates. Well, I challenge that sort of statement.

Ms Thorp - Who made that?

Mr DEAN - I understood the statement was made -

Mrs Jamieson - By Norm Andrews and Steve Kons's office.

Mr DEAN - Thank you for that assistance.
To me I find that a fairly ordinary sort of a statement because I would not have thought that too many innocent people were being arrested; I would hope not. To me a comment that this would open the floodgates also raises a number of concerning issues and if that is the reason they use for not providing compensation to Mr Wisniewski then it is left wanting.

Mr President, there were a lot of other issues I was going to refer to but I do not think I need to; I think I have made my point and I just believe that there is a responsibility on this occasion for the Government, through the Police department, to stand up here and be counted and to provide Mr Wisniewski with some support, some financial support to help him get his life back on track. It is not going to repair the damage. It is not going to clear Mr Wisniewski from his thoughts about what happened and the trauma that he went through but it may help him in some way, as I said, to resurrect his life and to move forward.

I want to refer to section 27 of the Criminal Code, which gives police the power to arrest someone they suspect has committed a crime, and as raised by the Leader the police certainly have the right to do that. The Criminal Code provides that.

I want to refer to another comment that I obtained through the Library which refers to wrongful arrest. There needs to have been some malice, et cetera, involved. An arrest in good faith with supporting evidence is not wrongful and the Leader pointed that out and I am aware of that. There is case law in relation to that.

I will briefly refer to the matter of Paul Lawrence Smith and Robert James Marshall, Mr President, judgment LCA2 of 1994 in the Supreme Court of Tasmania where a comment made by the judge states if an arrest is wrongful then some compensation may be payable. It will be commensurate with suffering. That was a comment made by the judge during that case. I would urge on this occasion the supporting of the member's motion and I would ask that the Government stand up in this instance and that some compensation be provided to Mr Wisniewski.