Initiated after the recent execution of Victorian man Van Tuong Nguyen, the review will explore issues including whether the death penalty should be left to judges’ discretion or abolished completely. Recommendations will then be presented to the Singapore Government.

Having visited Singapore shortly before Nguyen’s execution in December, Hulls said: “While our efforts to save this young man’s life were ultimately unsuccessful, the Victorian Government remains fundamentally opposed to the mandatory death penalty.”

He said it is “crucial that governments, and in particular the federal government”, do what they can to lobby countries that apply the mandatory death penalty.