Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

‘Law and order’ policy
James Hardie Industries manufactured asbestos building products throughout
Australia from 1937 to 1986, despite becoming aware of the health complications
caused by asbestos in the 1960s. 36 It has been projected that 18,000 Australians will
have died from asbestos-induced cancer (mesothelioma) by 2020. 37
A more recent example occurred on the Gold Coast in 2016, when
Dreamworld’s ‘Thunder River Rapids’ ride malfunctioned and caused the deaths
offourpeople.Inthepursuitofprofit,Dreamworldreduceditsmaintenanceand
repair expenditure. The theme park ride was overdue for maintenance by seven
months and had malfunctioned on prior occasions (including on the day of the
fatalities). 38
In the above cases, it can be argued that both corporations engaged in negligent
behaviour(attheveryleast)anddisregardedthesanctityofhumanlife,yetno
criminal charges were brought against their executives. Nor did these events
instigate a ‘tough on corporate crime’ political campaign or punitive reform of
corporate regulations. In fact, Australian regulatory bodies rarely employ the
criminal law when policing corporate entities and their behaviour. 39 Corporate
breaches are often resolved with monetary settlements, and there is relatively little
media attention paid to them. News media are largely uninterested in reporting
corporate crime – often the facts are complex and hard to convey to a lay
audience. 40 Corporate crime does not evoke comparable degrees of moral outrage
and intense emotions among the public to ‘traditional’ forms of crime.
Consequently, law and order policy often targets the urban poor, working-class
youth and non-white minorities, while placing the wealthy and powerful above the
purviewofthelaw. 41
The legal impunity surrounding corporate crime suggests that a death caused
by corporate greed is more forgivable and less morally offensive than a death caused
by a murderer driven by self-interest. But is there really any material difference?
Conclusions
In recent decades, law and order policy in Australia has become excessively
punitive despite the consistent decline in crime. Numerous policies have been
introduced in the name of community safety and social order, but, when applied
in practice, they unnecessarily criminalise a broad range of behaviours and impose
disproportionately harsh penalties upon those who engage in (some forms of)
criminal behaviour.
36 Prince, Davidson and Dudley 2004.
37 Prince, Davidson and Dudley 2004.
38 Sibson 2018.
39 Hogg 2013.
40 Levi 2006.
41 Geis 1996.
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