And the really awful bit is that this appeal would have been unnecessary had the ACT-National coalition who produced this unholy mess listened to the experts in the first place. If you turn back to the original advice given to the ACT-National alliance, it was full of warning as to what would happen—which is to say, nothing good. Because, really, all these studies of the three-strikes laws do is demonstrate what multiple other studies have proven before: that the big idea of deterrence doesn't work. It only works when the people you are trying to deter are making rational, calculated decisions, and people in these serious violence offences aren't calculating anything. They act on the spur of the moment, fuelled by rage, revenge, and uncontrolled emotion. Deterrence only works for one sort of person: people who plan their crimes. Just a thought for those across the House, but possibly it's the white-collar criminals who you ought to be targeting with this sort of stuff. 