Premier kills controversial plans for suburban Cairns youth jail

The LNP has ruled out building a controversial youth detention centre in Cairns despite heightened overcrowding problems at the Sheridan St watch house since the introduction of tough new juvenile sentencing.

Premier David Crisafulli visits a new housing development at Bentley Park, Cairns and spoke with first homebuyer Aidan Maxwell and son Harry. Picture: Peter Carruthers

The LNP has ruled out the construction of a controversial youth detention centre in Cairns despite increased overcrowding problems at the state’s largest watch house since the introduction of tough new juvenile sentencing.

The horrific sexual assault of a woman allegedly by a gang of teenage boys came on Friday morning came at an awkward time for the Queensland Premier David Crisafulli who was in Cairns to announce the axing of stamp duty on new builds for eligible first home buyers.

The Premier was asked about the future of a 40-bed youth detention centre in Edmonton championed by the former government and conceded the proposal had

been met with strong opposition from local residents.

Kuranda businesses are dealing with smash and grab style break-ins, intimidation of staff, graffiti tags and theft in the tiny tourist town. The Vape Hut tobacconist on Therwine Street has installed metal bars across the front of the store after being broken into four times this year. Picture: Brendan Radke

In December Police Minister Dan Purdie said the new government would be “revisiting” the proposal before a “proper community consultation” process but on Friday the Premier said plans for lockup were effectively dead.

“We have to build more youth detention centres but what we don’t do is go and dump them in a community without talking to them, which is what we saw before,” he said.

“I understand the pressure that watch houses and detention centres are under, but it runs a distant second of the pressure that everyday Queenslanders are under.

“I have no appetite for dumping something on people’s doorstep without talking to them. “And as we build more detention centres, they will be in areas that the community expects them to be, not in the middle of peaceful suburbs.”

Statewide Queensland Police figures show a 6 per cent drop in break ins and car theft since adult time adult crime laws were passed but Cairns data comparing January 2024 with January 2025 numbers revealed a 22 per cent increase in unlawful entry offences within the Far North police division.

While January 2024 car thefts numbering 119 offences increased 38 per cent compared with 164 charges laid in January 2025.

A group of youths caught on CCTV cameras outside the Kuranda Heritage Markets on last week. Picture: Melissa Pancirov

Opposition police spokesman Glenn Butcher said the Premier “promised crime would drop as soon as his signature laws were introduced.”

“It hasn’t,” he said.

“This Premier is cherrypicking data for his press conferences and muddying the waters between juvenile and adult offences, but the numbers are there for all to see.

“Homes are still being broken into, children are still being granted bail, and victims of crime are still adding up.”

But Mr Crisafulli said it would take “some time” before harsh new adult crime, adult time laws started to impact offending rates.

“Police are feeling energised, but it’s going to take a long time to get victim numbers going down to where we need them,” he said.

“But I want Queenslanders to know that we’re not going to accept what we’ve seen the last 10 years have been going up in the other direction.

“I don’t think crime anywhere in the state is acceptable at the level it is, but in the Far North at the moment, it’s horrendous, and it’s ripping the heart and soul out of a beautiful part of the state.

“The state is in the grip of the youth crime crisis, and we have to keep driving that change.”

While in Cairns the Premier doubled down on a commitment to the return of remote birthing services and addressed a shortage of land needed to construct affordable new homes in the south Cairns growth corridor.

“There is an absolute shortage of land, and we have to do something about it,” he said.

“And I’ve seen the reduction in planning approvals over the last decade.”

Mr Crisafulli reiterated half of a $2bn dedicated infrastructure fund would be “quarantined” for regional Queensland while urging councils to apply for the funds that are desperately needed to fund truck sewer works in the Mount Peter area.

“We need more land, and there’s money on the table, and we want councils to be ambitious and get people into a home,” he said.

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Originally published as Premier kills controversial plans for suburban Cairns youth jail