Key events
Victorian Liberals announce plan for new appeals court to ensure tougher sentences
Benita Kolovos
The Victorian Liberals have announced that, if elected, they will split the court of appeal into two and appoint a new judges to set precedent they say will match “community expectations”.
The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, will today announce a plan to split the existing court of appeal into two separate courts – a court of criminal appeal and a court of civil appeal – and appoint additional judges specialising in criminal matters to the former.
The Coalition said the new court of criminal appeal would have “broad oversight across Victoria’s courts” to ensure “sentences for serious crime match community expectations” and give effect to new bail and sentencing laws that they would enact before Christmas.
They argue the decisions of this court would then flow down through the entire system, pushing up sentences handed out in courts across the state.
Wilson said:
Our new criminal court will empower specialist criminal law judges to ensure sentencing of criminals meet community expectations. Each sentence they hand down will form part of case law going forward, helping to establish appropriate consequences for criminal actions.
Good morning
Welcome to Guardian Australia’s Sunday live news blog. My name is Stephanie Convery, and I’ll be with you until this afternoon.
A man driving a stolen vehicle has died after a fatal collision in East Melbourne overnight, Victoria police said this morning. The man was seen driving a stolen white Subaru “erratically” in the Richmond area before he collided with two vehicles near Punt Road and Boulton Parade about ۹pm, police said.
The Sydney Swans – both the men’s and the women’s teams – will be back on the field today in a double header intended to celebrate the success of the AFLW team, but which has been overshadowed this week by the off-field behaviour of some members of the men’s team.
And the new Powerhouse Parramatta museum in Sydney has unveiled its inaugural exhibition program ahead of its official opening in November.
Grab a coffee, and we’ll bring you more on all of those shortly.
