Paedophiles could soon be jailed for life under sweeping new laws to keep predators behind bars - after Labor tried to BLOCK the bill
- Labor previously blocked laws which would impose mandatory prison sentences
- Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese was against mandatory minimum terms
- In a last minute backflip, Labor voted in favour of the federal government's bill
- The Attorney-General said Albanese reversed his views after backlash
- Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said Labor put 'paedophiles before kids'
- New laws are set to pass through the lower house and Senate today unopposed
Labor has changed its position on minimum mandatory sentences for child sex offenders, backing a bill one day after killing off the proposal in federal parliament.
The opposition changed a bill with tough new measures for pedophiles in the Senate on Monday night to strip out mandatory jail terms.
But with the Morrison government refusing to budge on a compromise, Labor caucus unanimously agreed to support the legislation in its original form.
Under the bill, paedophiles could face life behind bars, while repeat offenders and the most heinous child sex crimes would face mandatory minimum sentences.
It will only apply to people prosecuted for federal offences, with the majority of child sex abuse falling under state law.
Attorney-General Christian Porter said Mr Albanese changed his stance on the Sexual Crimes Against Children Bill following 'fierce public backlash'
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese previously disagreed with the mandatory minimum sentencing clause
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Attorney-General Christian Porter said Labor had reversed its position and agreed to support the bill in the face of public backlash.
'In all my years in politics I have never seen a great display of hypocrisy from Labor, which claims on the one hand that it wants to protect our children, but then says it is opposed in principle to minimum terms of imprisonment, despite having supported mandatory sentences of people smugglers when they were last in government,' he said.
'It shouldn't have taken three years of opposition and a public relations disaster today for Labor to finally realise the hypocrisy of its position and now needs to explain to victims whose lives have been ruined by these ruthless predators why it let them down in the Senate (Monday) night.'
Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus told a caucus meeting on Tuesday the party should not 'let the perfect be the enemy of the good'.
He said Labor strongly supported the vast majority of the bill, including the presumption against bail for serious offenders and lowering burdens on child witnesses.
Attorney-General Christian Porter said Labor's move was disappointing, considering last year 39 per cent of convicted child-sex offenders did not spend a day in jail
The bill passed parliament on Tuesday despite the ALP policy platform opposing mandatory jail terms.
The coalition launched a stinging attack on Labor for rebuffing the minimum sentences through parliamentary tactics.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton accused the opposition of backing pedophiles over Australian kids.
'It is one of the worst acts I have seen in my 20 years in parliament,' he said.
'Anthony Albanese needs to look parents in the eye and explain his betrayal of them.'
Carly Ryan Foundation founder Sonya Ryan sent a letter to all MPs and senators calling for an end to political point-scoring on the bill.
'This should not be a political jousting match but a coming together, particularly when it comes to the protection of children,' she wrote.
One Labor MP told the caucus meeting it was disappointing the party couldn't pursue the argument around mandatory sentencing, but accepted shadow cabinet's decision.
Another said the party couldn't stand in the way of the bill while also noting the importance of an independent judiciary.
Greens senator Nick McKim said the opposition should be embarrassed about walking away from its policy platform.
'Labor backflipped and has abandoned its opposition to mandatory sentencing,' he told the upper house.
The bill will return to the lower house on Wednesday for final approval.
