Kylie Lang: Twisted world where innocent locked up while guilty walk free

Where do the innocent get locked up while the guilty walk freely? Only right here in Queensland, writes Kylie Lang.

In what twisted world are the innocent locked up while the guilty walk freely? Not in a futuristic fiction novel, unfortunately, but right here, in the paradise formerly known as Queensland.

As Annastacia Palaszczuk celebrates eight years as Premier, she should be admitting her government has, in fact, failed to “keep Queenslanders safe”.

The pandemic is largely behind us, but youth crime is raging like there’s no tomorrow. Yet for juvenile offenders, there is always a tomorrow, a next week, a next month – because they are not duly punished for their crimes.

They are let off and let out, while the rest of us are sitting ducks, waiting for them to strike. Good people are holed up in their homes. Women, in particular, are frightened about what might happen if they dare to go outside.

A hapless public, furious at the lack of government muscle, is leaning towards vigilantism. I get it. Lives are being destroyed by remorseless criminals yet all this government can do is tell us it is getting tough on the issue. What an insult.

Wednesday’s youth crime forum in Toowoomba was nothing more than a political stunt – that backfired spectacularly – as questions from the floor were submitted (and vetted) beforehand and there was no frank discussion between those in power and those feeling powerless.

Rather, the government and top cops showed how glaringly out of touch they are with community sentiment and expectation.

Brendan Long attempts to ask a question at the youth crime forum in Toowoomba. Picture: Kevin Farmer

As one local told The Courier-Mail afterwards, it was “just a lot of talk, swerving, sidesteps” and very good, relevant questions were “simply unanswered”.

Police Minister Mark Ryan was heckled when he told the crowd that most people who were out on bail did not reoffend. He was jeered again for his limp response to a woman who stood up and said she’d been raped, questioning why her alleged attacker had been released on parole. He said she had a right to feel safe. Yeah, we know.

Queensland Police Superintendent Doug McDonald was also laughed at when a woman asked how she could defend herself and his answer was to escape or run away. Seriously, is anyone, anyone at all, committed to solving this youth crime crisis?

The Premier couldn’t be stuffed turning up to the forum, and Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard needn’t have bothered.

One local summed up “the vibe”, to quote another Australian satire, the 1997 film The Castle.

“We are in this problem because we have eroded punishments, because we’ve pandered to weak ideologies,” the man said. “We need draconian measures, we are on the cusp of anarchy.”

He said after his car was stolen he had “vigilante thoughts” and “98 per cent (of people) are locked in their homes, bars on windows”.

Police Minister Mark Ryan addresses the crowd at the youth crime forum. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Reading the room like no one on the stage was capable of doing, he said: “It is ironic that it is the guilty who walk free and the innocent who are punished.”

High-profile developer Clive Armitage told of two young offenders approaching him last week, one drawing a machete, the other brandishing an iron bar.

“They ran, but they will be back and I will be ready for them,” he said.

Superintendent McDonald was at pains to warn against vigilantism, but really, telling the gathering “there’s no place for that in a respectful community” was a bit rich. Are victims meant to show respect for perpetrators? Come on.

Worried Toowoomba residents are told to have faith in a new youth co-responder team, in which police are accompanied on patrols by youth justice workers. Such teams have been operating for some time in Logan, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Brisbane North, Moreton, and on the Gold Coast, but to what effect?

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll (left) and Assistant Commissioner Charysse Pond at the forum. Picture: Kevin Farmer

We’re all told the Palaszczuk government’s 10-point plan (eight years in the making) will make a difference. Yep, I’m sure extending the maximum sentence for stealing a car from seven to 10 years will be a massive deterrent for kids who know they’ll never see jail time. The strongest force in breaking the cycle of youth crime has to be early intervention – very early – like at birth, in some cases.

Children being raised in toxic homes, and for whom the streets feel safer, have a slim chance of coming good. Schools and counselling services can only do so much.

As the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle said: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man”. I doubt any government would risk losing votes by alienating civil libertarians, bleeding hearts and the growing number of parents who won’t or can’t raise children who contribute positively to society.

The horse has bolted on youth crime, and innocent people are paying the price.

Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail

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