COUNTRY Labor candidate for Dubbo Stephen Lawrence claims Mayor Mathew Dickerson has misled the public about what sparked the recent sentencing debate.
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Mr Lawrence's comments followed a national newspaper report of what Mr Lawrence described as "a concerted campaign by senior political figures in Dubbo to force the transfer of Magistrate (Andrew) Eckhold".
"The mayor has claimed in recent days he was simply making "quiet inquiries" trying to gather data on sentencing and was then "forced into commenting" before he was ready by the Orana Law Society media release of 29 September 2014," Mr Lawrence said.
He said the mayor needed to answer "some pretty simple questions".
"Did he, in front of numerous public servants at a Dubbo Management Group meeting in June, talk openly about the need for a new magistrate in Dubbo?" Mr Lawrence said.
"Did he tell the meeting he had lobbied local member Troy Grant to pursue this outcome? Did he tell the meeting Mr Grant would be meeting with (Attorney General) Mr Hazzard to pursue having the magistrate moved?
"Had the mayor well and truly made his mind up by early June that sentencing in Dubbo was too lenient and that the magistrate had to go?
"Was the mayor willing to pursue this outcome even though he must have known that moving a magistrate on the basis of political pressure would have been grossly improper? If so, why was he doing this when he admits he only had "anecdotal information" at the time?
"And why is the mayor now claiming he was simply trying to gather data when significant steps to lean on the magistracy had already occurred?"
Mr Lawrence acknowledged he had himself questioned sentencing in the past, and did not oppose the mayor's rights to make comments generally on sentencing trends.
Two years ago in his role as principal legal officer at the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS), Mr Lawrence accused country magistrates of falling into "errant, idiosyncratic and overly harsh sentencing patterns" in a national newspaper report.
He said sentences handed down to Aboriginal people for driving while disqualified were disproportionate, and statistics showed "sentencing trends completely out of kilter with community expectations".
"The lengths of the jail sentences imposed on Aboriginal people sentenced in the Dubbo area over the last six years have, on average, been treated more harshly than people convicted statewide of unquestionably more serious Local Court offences ... the lengths of the jail sentences imposed on Aboriginal people for drive disqualified offences in the Dubbo region over the last six years is certainly harsh, seemingly unfair and nothing short of a national disgrace," he said at the time.
While Mr Lawrence had asked questions relating to a Dubbo Management Group meeting, Dubbo MP Troy Grant told the Daily Liberal information discussed in the Ministers Action Group, Dubbo Management Group and Steering Committee meetings was confidential.
"The reason for this confidentiality is to allow representatives from government agencies to openly discuss issues affecting our community and offer suggestions on how to deal with these issues," he said.
"The Dubbo Management Group and Steering Committee meetings are there to discuss what is and isn't working within our community and what we can do to make it better."
In a media statement, Mr Lawrence said crime rates in Dubbo were high in some areas and he claimed that had worsened under the government's policies.
"The problems will not be addressed by leaning on magistrates and undermining our key state institutions," he said.
"I thought the mayor and Troy Grant were conservatives.
"It is not conservative to attack one of our key state institutions.
"We can only protect people from crime by letting the court system operate and by seriously tackling the underlying causes of crime."