Former Townsville police officer and KAP deputy leader sceptical of Crisafulli government’s latest law announcements
A former North Queensland cop has dismissed the latest set of Adult Crime Adult Time laws set to get passed this week as nothing but “smoke and mirrors”, saying young offenders aren’t fazed by the threat of maximum sentences.
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A former long serving Townsville police officer says the latest set of Adult Crime Adult Time laws to be passed by the State Government this week are simply “smoke and mirrors” and youth criminals aren’t being deterred by the threat of maximum sentences.
A total of 12 new charges will be added to the Making Queensland Safer Laws — including rape, aggravated attempted robbery, attempted murder, arson and torture — but the Crisafulli Government remained silent on the seven remaining charges.
Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber said the new charges will be added following recommendations from the government’s Expert Legal Panel.
The changes will not be retrospective and youth criminals who committed previous crimes will not face the new punishments which include a maximum of life imprisonment for attempted murder, maximum of life imprisonment for rape and a maximum of 14 years imprisonment for torture and arson.
Brett Geiszler spent 14 years in the police service, arresting young thieves and apprehending stolen vehicles across Townsville and says new laws, which won’t be applied to existing offences committed, won’t make “one ounce of difference”.
“The most prevalent offences of burglary and unlawful use of motor vehicles carried penalties for juveniles of seven years and five years respectively before the new laws,” he said.
“No juvenile had ever received the previous maximum.”
“What is the point of increasing the maximum if no one ever receives the previous maximum anyway?”
Mr Geiszler said youth criminals were not “scared” by the changes, evidenced by the ongoing crime committed by “very serious habitual criminals”.
Saying the changes may “look good on paper, KAP deputy leader Nick Dametto said it would still take time for sentencing to be reset, but said there should be more transparency with the new laws.
“I’m sure for the Minister [Gerber] it’s good politics to drip feed this out, but it doesn’t give the community any reassurance that they are going to fix this properly,” he said.
“It’s very concerning that these laws won’t be retrospective and won’t apply to the sentences that have been dished out to the worst, vile youth offenders.”
Mr Dametto said minimum mandatory sentencing, one of the KAP’s key policies, was created so the public could be rest assured that the laws, once enacted, would mean young criminals are being “locked up immediately for the crimes they are committing.”
With the first round of Making Queensland Safer Laws enacted in December last year, statistics released by Police Minister Dan Purdie showed there were 41 fewer stolen cars in North Queensland between December 1, 202 and February 29, 2025, compared to the same period in the previous 12 months – an 8.7 per cent drop.
Mr Purdie said the new Making Queensland Safer Laws were starting to see “genuine reductions” across some of the most prolific offences, but said there was still plenty of work to do.
“People who have a blatant disregard for the law by committing serious offences in
our communities are now having to face the consequences for their actions,” he said.
“This data shows we are on the right track to reducing crime in North Queensland and we won’t be satisfied until we see this trend continue.”
Minister for Youth Justice Laura Gerber said the new laws will take time.
“The courts are starting to reference our laws and impose higher sentences but, it will take time for Adult Crime, Adult Time cases to filter through the court system,” she said.
“The Crisafulli Government will continue to strengthen our youth crime laws and deliver gold standard early intervention and intensive rehabilitation programs to restore safety to our community.”
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Originally published as Former Townsville police officer and KAP deputy leader sceptical of Crisafulli government’s latest law announcements
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