Editorial: Queenslanders deserve to feel safe in their own homes

Real action to fix the state’s youth crime epidemic – not window dressing such as maximum sentences that no magistrate would ever enforce – is needed right now, writes the editor.

Few things are more important than feeling safe within the sanctuary of your own home.

And yet, alarmingly, this is not the case for many Queenslanders.

A sentiment survey of nearly 8000 people across the state, conducted by The Courier-Mail, has revealed 70 per cent feel less safe inside their home than they did three years ago.

Less safe, despite the many pledges the government has made to crack down on youth crime, to make “tough laws even tougher”.

Nobody would deny how complex the youth crime issue is, how difficult it is to solve.

To tackle it properly would mean ensuring every Queensland child is raised in a safe and stable home while reaching a perfect balance of deterrence and rehabilitation.

Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy. Picture: Liam Kidston

Eighty per cent of those surveyed say their suburb has been impacted by youth crime. An incredible 95 per cent believe the courts need to hand out tougher penalties to young offenders.

Nearly 80 per cent say they have been a victim of youth crime or know somebody who has. One in five say their home or car has been broken into over the past three years.

And, of course, it is even worse in the regions.

Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy said youth crime was an issue the QPS was working hard to tackle “right across the state”.

“Our priority will always be the safety of the community, and we thank them for their support and assistance while we continue to address this,” he said.

Logan Crime Reduction Unit targets youth offenders in a property crime blitz Picture: Queensland Police

“Our officers speak with hundreds of victims of crime across the state every day.

“We want to seek justice for them, we want to help them feel safe in their homes, protect them from future harm and also prevent others from becoming victims.”

As they speak to victims and communities across Queensland, the QPS, like the journalists from The Courier-Mail, will increasingly get the feeling that people have had enough.

And while the long-term solution to the problem no doubt starts with rehabilitation and diversion programs for at-risk kids, the is no patience in the community to wait for these measures to slowly take effect.

Action is needed now. And real action, not window dressing such as maximum sentences that no magistrate would ever enforce.

A Courier-Mail survey of nearly 8000 people shows 70 per cent of Queenslanders feel less safe inside their home than they did three years ago. Picture: Thinkstock

In the past three years, Queenslanders have been killed on the road by youths behind the wheels of stolen cars, they’ve been stabbed and murdered in their homes and our paramedics have been targeted by young offenders.

They are told the worst offending is due to a “small cohort” of recidivist offenders – a cohort that has increased in size in that time.

It is a group for whom the courts and the threat of detention is no deterrent – especially as bail is easily obtained.

Even in detention, the prospects for real rehabilitation seem minimal as places in programs are limited.

It is not difficult to see what will be on the agenda as Queenslanders prepare to head to the polls later this year.

Premier Steven Miles has made the right noises about youth crime, even when he was Annastacia Palaszczuk’s deputy and other MPs were dismissing the issue as a “media beat-up”.

But he will need to come up with comprehensive policies, and explain them well, if he is to convince Queenslanders to give the Labor government another four years to bring youth crime under control.

Improved safety will be legacy of tragedy

Exactly a year ago on Tuesday, January 2, an idyllic, sunny day on the Gold Coast was shattered when two sightseeing helicopters collided near Sea World, leaving four people dead and eight injured, three critically.

Over the past few days, we have brought you stories from the survivors of the tragedy, as well as tributes to the victims, like the adult children of British man Ron Hughes, who died alongside his wife Diane.

Faye Hughes, Jane Manns, Gina Cavanagh, and Phil Hughes – the family of Sea World crash victim Ron Hughes, 65, and Diane Hughes, 57, both from Merseyside, England – with a picture of the couple. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The tragedy was described at the time as a “freak accident”.

The two choppers were flying circuits they had already performed dozens of times that day, and thousands of times over the course of a year, when they collided.

Preliminary investigations indicate that each helicopter may have been in the other’s blind spot until shortly before impact.

However, for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators, there is no such thing as a freak accident.

Their ongoing investigation aims to pinpoint exactly how the collision took place, and then institute procedures that will make sure such a “freak accident” never happens again.

The operator of the helicopters, who will not be flying today as a mark of respect to the victims, has already taken some measures.

It may be cold comfort to the families of the victims, but helicopter joy flights in Australia will become safer as a result of that horrible day one year ago.