Politics, religion and capital punishment

When Ronald Ryan was sentenced to death in 1966, it sparked debate across the community with politicians and religious authorities making statements for and against capital punishment. In this clip, supporters of the death penalty include Mr William Moss, Leader of the Victorian Country Party, and a representative from the Church of England; those against are Mr Clive Stoneham, Leader of the Opposition and Anglican Bishop Geoffrey Sambal.

At the time, capital punishment was an official policy of the governing Victorian Liberal Party. Premier Sir Henry Bolte believed that Ryan’s execution sentence was correct, given ‘that it was a murder against authority’ (as quoted by Nine News reporter Tom Jones following a press conference).

This clip is from a film compilation of Channel Nine News footage on Ronald Ryan held in the NFSA television collection.