Analysis: Government’s screeching u-turn in breach of bail decision

The state government’s decision to bring in breach of bail as an offence – a copy of the Opposition’s policy – was a jarring u-turn backed by no visible evidence, writes Madura McCormack.

There are moments when politicians should be lauded for changing their views on a matter.

But the state government’s decision to bring in breach of bail as an offence – a copy of the Opposition’s policy – was a jarring u-turn backed by no visible evidence.

Worse still, government MPs had been panning the policy – both as it existed under former premier Campbell Newman, and the new version pushed by the Opposition – for years and as recently as the weekend.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, in parliament on Monday, said the latest youth justice measures were “beyond politics” and the government was adopting a “bipartisan approach”.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at Parliament House on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“These new initiatives are based in evidence and they follow feedback from the community, police and other important stakeholders,” she said.

It does not seem this evidence has been produced.

Those within government ranks would argue work was being done on bringing in breach of bail in the background, and the move was not knee-jerk policy. It has also been justified as a way to neutralise the Opposition’s ability to argue that it had a way to deal with youth crime, by taking away the one policy weapon – breach of bail – it had on hand.

This would make the decision, contrary to the Premier’s public words, completely political. But if there is anything that is certain about the Queensland government these days, it is its ability to contradict itself.