Give a millimetre, lose a mile: How Qld’s youth crime debate turned

Part of the justification some Queensland Labor folks gave themselves for the spectacular U-turn on a key youth justice policy earlier this year was it would take heat out of attacks from elements of the community, media and the LNP.

But the inevitable return of debate about government responses to crime has only pulled in a more problematic direction since.

The deaths of three women after a multi-vehicle crash outside Maryborough was always going to spark an outpouring of grief.

The fact the accident was allegedly caused by a luxury car stolen and driven by a 13-year-old boy reportedly living in a residential care home has, in some cases, turned that grief into anger.

Solutions being pushed by the loudest and most influential voices will not work, experts say. Some might actually worsen things.

One of the ideas is the dumping of a factor judges must consider when sentencing young people: that detention be a last resort.

As laid out by former Childrens Court president Michael Shanahan, this is because children are “not little adults”.

A proponent is the LNP opposition under leader David Crisafulli, after dodging questions earlier in the year about their plans to reheat the Newman-era policy.

“I’m not going to give them one millimetre on this,” Crisafulli told reporters last week.

The problem for the government, whose most recent youth crime crackdown already effectively does this for kids declared serious repeat offenders, is it has shown it is willing to give that and more.

On bypassing its own human rights laws to create a new offence for young people who breach bail conditions – which experts say will probably drag more kids deeper into cycles of crime.

On changes to the tax paid by property owners with land across multiple Australian states.

Crisafulli has suggested voters will hear more about the LNP’s broader ideas about the “gold standard” early intervention, which experts say is key to addressing issues causing youth crime.

But he gives airtime to ideas from the police union that kids should be named and shamed – another of the LNP’s widely criticised policies from its 2013-15 stint in government – or treated as adults for serious crimes.

Labor’s Maryborough MP, Bruce Saunders, has called for an inquiry into how the incident happened and takeover of residential care homes – where some of the state’s most vulnerable children live – by justice authorities.

In September, only 5 per cent of the 1500 kids in residential care statewide were also on a youth justice order.

Palaszczuk said this week she could not stop every instance of youth crime.

Crisafulli initially called this an “extraordinary statement” before being presented with an echo of it from his own mouth back in February. Pushed on whether he stood by this, he said he would “never throw in the towel”.

The sentiment is shared by police. “We’re never going to eliminate all crime,” Capricornia district Superintendent Glen Ponting told reporters in Rockhampton on Monday.

The officer had fronted media after dozens of people surrounded a house they believed to be the home of two young First Nations people responsible for recent crimes.

The youths’ names had been shared on social media by former One Nation candidate and Patriots Defence League-linked Torin O’Brien, who led the rally.

Ponting warned anyone considering taking matters into their own hands that such an approach was “fraught with danger” for everyone, nodding to a recent case in Townsville involving a fatal crash allegedly caused by a vigilante.

He also said police would be reviewing footage of the Rockhampton incident to determine if any members of the group should face charges themselves.

Both Palaszczuk and Crisafulli called for the community to let police do their job on Monday. Both need also to up their efforts to push debate away from punitive measures which will not help.

Tom Allsop, chief executive of residential care sector group PeakCare Queensland, said the toughest laws on the outcomes of youth crime could only go so far.

“But you are not going to fix the problem until you have smarter approaches for preventing the causes of youth offending in the first place,” he said.

ICYMI

With the next state election not due until October 2024, youth crime will remain a major feature of public debate – particularly if the LNP’s last state premier has anything to say about it.

A byelection for the Gold Coast-based federal seat of Fadden could come much sooner, after former cabinet minister and infamous internet user Stuart Robert (who presided over much of the robo-debt saga and faced more recent questions around lobbying) announced his resignation.

HEADS UP

As the entirety of Queensland’s parliamentary operation takes staff and 93 MPs north to Cairns for this week’s sitting, legislative debate in the makeshift house will focus on Labor’s path to treaty process.

But you can expect Tuesday night’s federal budget to raise a mention. So too, will crime. One local group has organised a “stop the crime” protest outside the Cairns venue on Wednesday.