"A CRIMINALS' HAVEN."

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 204, 28 August 1926, Page 15

"A CRIMINALS' HAVEN."

NEW FEDERAL CAPITAL. M.P.'S BAD ENOUGH. -MELBOURNE, August 18. According to Mr. Perkins (Nat., N.S.W.) a Gilbertian situation exists at Canberra and Queanbeyan. At the present time there is no court at Canberra, and all cases have to be tried at Queanbeyan, and as the laws of the Federal Capital Territory are different to the laws of New 'South Wales, the penalties for similar offences that have to be imposed by the same magistrate are totally different. A man who, say, painted Canberra red and generally misbehaved himself, would get a totally different sentence at the Capital to what he would bad he committed his offence in New South Wales territory.

In trying these cases the unfortunate Queanbeyan magistrate had two totallydifferent sets of law books at his elbow for consultation.

Another grievance Mr. Perkins had was that people living in tho Territory who ran up big bills with Queanbeyan merchants were under no obligation to pay, because, even if proceedings were taken against them under the laws of the Territory, an order could not be executed as long as the defendant remained in the Territory.

Mr. Perkins asserted that the Territory was , the happy haven of refuge for criminals of all States. It was harder to extradite a criminal from Federal Capital Territory than from Peru. Tt is bad enough that members of Parliament were being unloaded on the Territory, let alone criminals.