The death sentence was formally abolished in Australia when it was last used in 1967, when Ronald Ryan was hanged in Victoria. Ryan was the last of 137 people executed in the 20th century here in Australia

The death penalty, capital punishment or execution is a government-sanctioned punishment by death. The sentence is referred to as a death sentence, which is a result of serious crime or offences such as murder. The death sentence is carried out differently in many countries, some forms of punishment are; Lethal Injection, Electrocution, Lethal Gas, Firing Squad, and Hanging.

Out of 196 countries in our world, 36 countries still actively use the death penalty, including India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, North Korea, Pakistan, Thailand and the United States of America.

Nevertheless criminals know undoubtedly that they will be put to death should they murder with premeditation, very many of them are much less inclined to commit murder, knowing they get the death penalty. This is proven to be very affective in the United States. I’m sure many of you are aware of the recent case in Bali, where 2 Australian’s Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were caught bringing Heroin into Bali.

-How many of you thought they were going to get a death sentence when they were first arrested?

Knowing that you would face the death penalty if caught transporting drugs into another country rather than a few years in Jail, can I get everyone to raise their hand if this would deter them from committing a serious crime?

By all means I don’t support the beheading and executions of regular criminals. The death penalty should not be abused, and used only in extreme circumstances. Although criminal acts may not always be worth a death penalty, it would keep down the recidivism rate of offenders following the release from prison, knowing the threat of a death penalty exists.

For example, in America in 1982, Andrew Dawson was given a life sentence after murdering a 92 year old man in his flat, by stabbing him 12 times with a bread knife. Dawson was in prison for 28 years, soon enough being released for good behaviour claiming that he was a reformed man, branding himself as an ‘Angel of Mercy’. Within weeks of his release in 2010, he stabbed defenseless John Matthews and Paul Hancock to death in separate attacks, before leaving their bodies in their bathtubs.

In another case, Frank Babbic was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, after being charged for the murder of Dennis Domm at his own Carlton home in 1955. He was released after 10 years of jail, and then just 6 months after being released on parole, he was convicted of a second murder in 2008 - that of Brunswick second-hand dealer Raphael Innaimo - but he appealed against it. How can we feel safe with these type of people in our society,  if people like Frank Babbic are happy to take life away from innocent people, why should he deserve life himself?

How does it benefit us?

Every year we get taxed off our earnings. A large sum of our tax goes towards prisons, in order to feed inmates and improve their living conditions. Studies suggest that it’s cheaper to execute extreme criminals, rather than keep them in prison for a lifetime, often solitary confinement. Dudley Sharp, the Death Penalty Resources manager suggests that a life sentence is 3.6 millions dollars more expensive, rather than a death sentence. Surely these 3.6 million dollars per inmate could be used towards improvement of hospitals, schools or cancer research?

After all there are numerous positives that we can take out of the death penalty.

-Deters crime

-It’s cheaper than housing an inmate for a lifetime.

-The absence of death penalty is synonymous to crime rate increase.