Editorial: It’s time to end this youth-crime scourge

Today, our Queensland editors join forces with a message for our politicians, on behalf of our communities. This is not the state we want – one in the grip of a youth crime epidemic so widespread that readers from the border north to the Cape live in fear that it will be their car, their home or their life that is taken next.

• Paul Murray to broadcast from Toowoomba

The following is a message from Queensland’s newspaper editors: Chris Jones, The Courier-Mail; Anna Caldwell, Sunday Mail; Tyla Harrington, Cairns Post; Craig Herbert, Townsville Bulletin; Ryan Keen, Gold Coast Bulletin; Heidi Petith, Mackay Daily Mercury, Whitsunday Times; Jordan Philp, Toowoomba Chronicle; Melanie Plane, Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, Gladstone Observer, CQ News; Scott Sawyer, Sunshine Coast Daily; Shelley Strachan, Gympie Times, Bundaberg NewsMail, Fraser Coast Chronicle.

As the editors of your state’s daily newspapers, we join forces today to say to our political leaders on behalf of our communities that this is not the Queensland we want – a state where the youth crime epidemic is now so widespread that all our readers share the same fear: that it could be their car, their home, or their life that is taken next.

But sadly it is the state in which we now live – a state under siege from violent youths who, after years of a revolving door system caused by failed government policies, have developed a fearless disregard for the justice system; a system that is supposed to keep society safe.

The spark that lit this shared fire of ours came on Boxing Day when 41-year-old mother of two Emma Lovell died defending her suburban North Lakes home, in Brisbane’s north.

Sadly, it did not end there.

Toowoomba man Robert Brown died a week after he was allegedly set upon by four teenagers in the Toowoomba CBD on February 6. Picture: Toowoomba Photographic Society

In Toowoomba earlier this month, 75-year-old Robert Brown was standing at a taxi rank in broad daylight when he was attacked, robbed and left for dead.

Just hours later in Howard near Hervey Bay, 47-year-old Uber driver Scott Cabrie picked up a fare from the teenagers since charged with murder.

And these are just those who have died in recent weeks.

We can add to those stories at least 12 more deaths, countless cars stolen, homes invaded and lives rocked by the callous actions of a generation failed by the system – and on every single occasion another innocent Queenslander is left nursing deep psychological scars.

But the solution is not as simple as the politicians would have you believe.

And so this is a challenge that simply cannot be allowed to fall into the category of “just another political problem” that our leaders only care only about getting off the front pages. It therefore cannot be yet another trip on the political merry-go-round of tick-the-box “toughest in the nation” laws in a “war on crime”.

What is instead required is a world-class expert-informed solution that both sides of politics can agree to pursue – and that those brave souls who work so tirelessly in this space can rally around.

Uber driver Scott Cabrie, 47, picked up a fare from teenagers who have since charged with his murder.

And so while the solution we join forces to propose today is more nuanced than you would perhaps expect, it is actually far more meaningful.

We today demand that both the Palaszczuk government and the opposition (should they win office next year) agree to publish every six months the state’s progress against a series of key performance indicators that are informed by experts.

Every Queenslander should expect nothing less than a rock solid commitment from both Labor and the LNP on this, because only evidence-informed advice – and an ongoing commitment to acting on that advice – will ensure long-term success.

The privilege of leading our state and representing Queenslanders must come with accountability.

Today we join together on behalf of the communities we serve in saying to the politicians: Enough Is Enough.

It is time for transparency, targets and timelines.

It is time to join together in a shared commitment to work together as Queenslanders to take back our Sunshine State, a place where we should be able to go about our lives with confidence – not fearing what might lurk around the next corner.