I said this is what is needed.
The parole board here needs to answer a few questions and see who else they have out on parole.
Premier Daniel Andrews calls to involve ASIO, AFP in parole decisions for people on terror watchlists
VICTORIA’S parole board had no idea gunman Yacqub Khayre was on a terror watch list despite being contacted by a federal agency asking for his current address and phone number a month before the Brighton attack.
Head of the Adult Parole Board Judge Peter Couzens says the board was contacted by a federal agency a month before Khayre killed a man and injured three police.
The email from the agency said: “I am conducting inquiries in relation to the contact details of Khayre who is currently on parole. I have property to return to him from a counter terrorism investigation”.
“This is a month before the incident,” Mr Couzens told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.
“You would have thought that if a federal authority were concerned about this person as a risk, they would have been more concerned about that rather than returning property to him.”
The board says it was not aware he was on any terror watch list or that he was any danger to the community or “it would have acted”.
“We were not told anything along those lines either at the time of making the order or subsequently,” Mr Couzens said.
“There was nothing that came to the notice of the board that would give it cause for concern.”
Mr Couzens said such information should “absolutely” be shared with the parole board and Corrections Victoria.
Security agencies would actively participate in parole decisions when prisoners have been on terror watch lists, under a proposal to be discussed by state and Commonwealth governments.
The plan would see ASIO and federal police able to intervene in cases where “persons of interest” are eligible and have applied for early release from prison.
Premier Daniel Andrews said Victoria would put forward the idea at a Council of Australian Governments meeting this week, declaring that “following the terrorist incident in Brighton, it is clear that more needs to be done”.
Victoria’s parole system was questioned by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday, after Brighton gunman Yacqub Khayre launched his attack seven months after being released from jail.
Mr Khayre was also understood to be part of a deradicalisation program.
Mr Turnbull said it was a “toxic combination” if people had a violent criminal history and links to terrorism, like Khayre did.
“We certainly want to make sure that people like Khayre are not released on parole and we are going to have a very serious discussion about this at COAG,” he told 3AW.
“I don’t want to make this a partisan or a political issue, this is a question of national leadership and national responsibility.”
Mr Andrews said although Victoria’s parole system was ”strong”, the Commonwealth should have a role in parole decision relating to people with known terror links.
“We need to work together on national security, not just by sharing information but by sharing responsibility,” he said.
“Violent extremism is a reality we have to confront in our state and across our nation, clearly action is needed on parole and more broadly across our justice systems.
“In the event that parole decisions need to be made for someone on a terrorist watch list, we want the experts in our national security agencies to be directly involved in the decision making.”
Opposition leader Matthew Guy said ASIO and the Australian Federal Police should have been involved in parolee decisions “from the very start.”
“The government appears to be, as far as I can see, panicking about a system it’s had two and a half years to fix,” Mr Guy told reporters at parliament.
Mr Andrews said he has received advice from Victoria Police that there are 20 Victorians currently part of a deradicalisation program, including people who have served their sentences but are not on parole, some who never went to prison, and some that are currently behind bars.
None in the program are in the community as parolees, he said.
The COAG meeting with the prime minister and other premiers will be held in Hobart on Friday.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vi...s/news-story/a1e7c41e4c2f6f8009150ea3e1b2f70b
