Youth crime Qld: Kid crims know Premier’s tough new laws are out to get them
For too long, bleeding heart magistrates have just slapped the wrists of repeat offenders, but now they’re waking up with the backing of tough new laws, and word is spreading where it matters most, writes Kylie Lang.
Kylie Lang
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Premier David Crisafulli’s tough youth crime laws are working because magistrates are willing to use them – and kids know it.
For too long, bleeding heart magistrates have excelled at the slapping of wrists because offenders have hard luck stories.
The rights of victims have been ignored.
But Mr Crisafulli’s dramatic tightening and expansion of the laws finally reflects community expectations, and magistrates are waking up.
In even better news, the word is spreading, where it matters most.
Among juveniles for whom consequences have been non-existent under the previous lax Labor government, the message is finally getting through.
Commit a serious crime – expect a serious punishment. The tougher laws are there, and we’re going to use them.
Government figures show a 32 per cent drop in cases against kids charged with at least one of an initial 13 offences included in Mr Crisafulli’s “adult crime, adult time” laws.
There were 1359 cases lodged between December 13 and March 28, a drop of 756 in the same period in 2023-2024 when Steven Miles fell into the premier’s job after Labor’s union masters sent Annastacia Palaszczuk packing.
As Mr Crisafulli said on Monday morning, magistrates are starting to use remarks like, “Well, under the new laws, I have to sentence you as an adult”.
Offenders are listening.
Wearing balaclavas and bragging in front of allegedly stolen cars, they’ve posted videos on social media with captions such as “sorry David Crisafulli”.
No need to apologise. Mr Crisafulli is standing firm.
“The fact that these little punks are saying my name and reflecting the new laws tells you that they’re aware of it; that, to me, is a good thing,” he said.
“They can taunt all they like, but the laws are there, and the only changes to the laws will be to make them stronger.”
Kudos to the magistrate in Far North Queensland who sentenced a youth charged with entering premises and seriously assaulting a person over 60 to 12 months’ detention.
“The laws were changed recently because of children committing offences like these,” the magistrate said.
While it’s great to see some magistrates enforcing the new laws, and finally start acting in the best interests of the community, we need all of them to get on board.
kylie.lang@news.com.au
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