Craig Minogue

Craig Minogue
Craig William John Minogue
Born 1962 (age 55–56)
Australia
Occupation Convicted felon
Criminal charge Murder
Criminal penalty Life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 30 years
Criminal status Incarcerated

Craig Minogue (born 1962) is an Australian prisoner, convicted for the 1986 bombing of the Russell Street Police Headquarters in Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Minogue was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 30 years. Minogue is currently serving his sentence at Marngoneet Correctional Centre, in Lara, near Geelong, about one hour's drive from Melbourne. In 2012 Mingoue was awarded his PhD in applied ethics, human and social services by La Trobe University.[1]

Russell Street Bombing

The Russell Street Police Headquarters.

The Russell Street Bombing occurred at proximately 1 pm on 27 March 1986, Easter Thursday. The blast killed 21-year-old Constable Angela Taylor and left 22 people injured and caused massive damage to the Russell Street Police Headquarters and surrounding buildings, with damage estimated at over $500,000.

Prison life

Minogue initiated many legal challenges against the Victorian government, mostly concerning his treatment while imprisoned. In 2002 Minogue applied unsuccessfully to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) and sought copies of prison management and operation manuals.[2] His request was refused, but he was granted access to limited information and restricted to viewing such information while within the prison library. This decision was widely criticized by academics and lawyers as promoting a lack of administrative transparency in the prison system and creating a situation where the rules that prisoners are supposed to abide by are concealed from them.[3]

In 2005 Minogue, who entered the prison system illiterate, completed his Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honours from Deakin University. In the same year he was accepted as a PhD. student at La Trobe University, the first prisoner in Australia and one of the few in the world to do so.[4][5] Minogue uses his website to post information about his academic work.

In a coronial inquest into deaths in the fire at the prison Minogue gave evidence over three days. At the completion of the inquest the State Coroner found Corrections Victoria was, in his words, "moribund and corrupt". A book by Monash University academic and historian Dr. Bree Carlton, Imprisoning Resistance, examined prisoner resistance which led to the Jika Jika fire.[6]

In 2016, after it was revealed Minogue had applied for parole and following media and public pressure on the Victorian government,[7] Daniel Andrews, the Premier of Victoria, legislated to eliminate parole for persons convicted of killing a police officer. The law was applied retrospectively and impacted Minogue's application for parole.[8] In 2017 Minogue sought to challenge the validity of the new legislation,[9] and in the 2017 annual report of the Victorian Parole Board it was reported that the matter is in its early stages of being heard before the High Court of Australia.[10]

Selected publications

  • Minogue, Craig. 'Legal Professional Privilege?', Alternative Law Journal, Vol. 17, No.6, December 1992.
  • Minogue, Craig. 'Human rights and excursions from the flat lands', Alternative Law Journal, Vol 25, No.3, June 2000, pp. 145–146.
  • Minogue, Craig. 'Frustrated Access to Educational Programmes', Abolition, Vol. 1, August 2001, pp. 12–24.
  • Minogue, Craig. 'Downsizing', Winnowings, School of Literary & Communication Studies, Deakin University Geelong, Victoria, 2002, pp. 146–150.
  • Minogue, Craig. 'An Insider's View: Human rights and excursions from the flat lands', in BROWN, David and WILKIE, Meredith, (eds) Prisoners as Citizens: Human Rights in Australian Prisons, The Federation Press, Annandale, NSW, 2002, pp. 196–212.
  • Minogue, Craig. 'Welcome Home Dad', Crossfire (Deakin University Student Association Magazine), No. 15, 7 October 2002, Deakin University Geelong, Victoria, p. 8.
  • Minogue, Craig. 'Post-Apocalyptic Landscaping and Keeping Your Head Down: Tertiary Study Behind Bars', Crossfire (Deakin University Student Association Magazine) Issue 4, August 2004, Deakin University Geelong, Victoria p. 14.
  • Minogue, Craig. 'The Use of a Military Level of Force on Civilian Prisoners: Strip Searching, Urine Testing, Cell Extractions and DNA Sampling in Victoria', Alternative Law Journal, Vol 30, No.4. August 2005, pp. 170–173.
  • Minogue, Craig. 'Dealing with the Criminal Justice System: A Practical "How To" Handbook, Darebin Community Legal Centre Inc., October 2006.
  • Minogue, Craig. 'Then and Now, Us and Them: A Historical Reflection on deaths in and out of Custody', Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, Vol 33, No.4, 2006, 107–117.

References

  1. ↑ It is currently unavailable to the public
  2. ↑ Minogue v Department of Justice (2004) VCAT 1194 (25 June 2004)
  3. ↑ Edney, Richard (2005). "Importance of administrative transparency in the correctional context: Knowing the rules". Australian Journal of Administrative Law. 12: 163–174.
  4. ↑ "Russell St bomber seeks transfer for PhD". ABC News. Australia. 2004.
  5. ↑ "PhD prisoner won't leave maximum security". The Age. 8 November 2004.
  6. ↑ Imprisoning Resistance, Life and Death in an Australian Supermax, Sydney Institute of Criminology, Sydney 2007
  7. ↑ "Russell Street bomber, suspect in 1986 murder, moved ahead of parole eligibility". ABC News. Australia. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  8. ↑ Willingham, Richard; Preiss, Benjamin (6 December 2016). "Police killers to spend life behind bars, parole to be scrapped". The Age. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  9. ↑ Davey, Melissa (11 April 2017). "Russell Street bomber challenges legal change that denies him parole". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "Litigation". Annual Report 2016-17. Adult Parole Board of Victoria. Government of Victoria. n.d. p. 35. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

Human Rights Test Cases

  • Minogue v Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1998) Vol. 54 Administrative Law Decisions, p. 389, and at (1998) Vol. 84 Federal Court Reports, p. 438
  • Minogue v Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1998) Vol. 166 Australian Law Reports, p. 29; and at (1999) Vol. 57 Administrative Law Decisions, p. 23.
  • Minogue v Williams (2000) Vol.60 Administrative Law Decisions, p. 366
  • Minogue v Australia 2004 UNHRCR 52 (11 November 2004)
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