Deputy Premier Steven Miles’ swipe at magistrate a sign of desperation

Opinion: It was a stunning spray from one of the state’s most senior politicians to a court official in the state north’s, but Friday’s outburst by Deputy Premier Steven Miles was an act of desperation, writes Jack McKay.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles’ scorching admonishment of the judiciary following the release of 13 young offenders in Townsville was stunning.

It’s a massive escalation from the swipe Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made against the courts late last year when she called on them to “do their job”.

Even then, when she was pressed further to clarify her remarks, the Premier cited separation of powers – unwilling to go further.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles described the mass release of 13 juvenile offenders as a “media stunt”. Picture: Annette Dew

Mr Miles chucked those separation of powers out the window on Friday and took aim at the courts in an extraordinarily rare attack on the judiciary for this third-term Labor government.

His comments show the government is desperate to look like they are tough on youth crime. And it shows they know the public is fed up with the issue and it could cost Labor dearly at the ballot box.

Mr Miles’ remarks will surely rankle the judiciary, but his comments were aimed squarely at winning over voters.

Instead of playing nice with the courts (which is what Labor often opts to do), Mr Miles played politics in a bid to appease a public that wants their government to do more.

And you can expect this rhetoric to only ramp up even further in the coming weeks as the government prepares to introduce their new youth justice laws to parliament.