Qld LNP government’s deafening silence on sentences for teen rapists left out of adult crime, adult time law changes
The deafening silence from the Queensland Liberal National Party on whether rape will be included in their policy to impose adult penalties for juvenile offenders in line with other adult crimes draws into another week.
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The newly-elected Queensland government and Premier David Crisafulli are refusing to respond to calls for the party to include the crime of rape in the youth justice law reforms it campaigned on to “put victims first”.
Despite car theft being included, rape was not one of the 10 crimes included in the government’s ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time,’ list and the subsequent Making Queensland Safer Laws rushed through parliament in December 2024.
This week sexual violence awareness advocates, the Katter Party, and 99 per cent of Queensland women polled have called on Mr Crisafulli and the Queensland government to make a promise to include rape in the next tranche of the laws.
Rather than responding, Mr Crisafulli’s and Attorney-General Deb Frecklington’s offices said the premier had already spoke to this issue during a press conference on Monday, January 20, where he said the decision was up to an independent expert legal panel.
“There will be many (changes) and significant work done to be done across many changes about what sentences look like,” he said.
“The difference between me and my predecessors, is I will not spend one day in this office telling Queenslanders that crime isn’t an issue and that we can’t do better, we will always have to do better.
“I can assure you we will be looking to say ‘how can we strengthen our laws, how can we improve early intervention, how can we fix the broken arms of government?’
“There will be times when there are decisions as part of the Making Queensland Safer Laws that we would like to see stronger I’m sure, and we will constantly look at that and reflect and do everything we can to ensure that justice is being done for more people.”
Earlier this month, Mr Crisafulli promised Queenslanders that attempted murder would be included in the next legislation change to impose harsher penalties of certain juvenile offenders, but remains firm that the inclusion of rape would be up to a panel.
Katter’s Australian Party MP Nick Dametto questioned how long it would take for the government to confirm if rape would be included considering it was only this week that an expression of interest was issued for panel members.
“Now that rape and attempted murder have been identified, I think the Premier needs to stop pushing for the matter to be dealt with by the expert panel,” he said.
“As the Premier and Attorney-General they should be able to consult with their own people internally and make their own decisions for Queensland, not rely on a panel to make their decisions for them.”
Mr Dametto said he was disappointed with the Premier’s silence on whether or not rape would be included, after he earlier described the exclusion as a “slap in the face to victims”.
“Queenslanders are now looking for answers from their premier and incoming government and I share their disappointment,” he said.
“There is a simple answer to be addressed here, and that’s whether or not they believe rape of anybody, any age, should be considered an adult crime.”
Mr Dametto said he understood the legislation may have been rushed to ensure election promises were kept, but his silence on the matter was not good enough.
“We want to make sure that young people that have been convicted of one of the most heinous crimes in Queensland are held to account,” he said.
“We don’t want to see young people potentially going to jail for longer stealing a car than raping somebody.”
He said for years the Queenslanders had been calling on the government to ensure sentences to fit the crime.
“Queenslanders have been excited to hear the slogan ‘adult crime, adult time,’ but now they want it applied fairly across all those crimes that constitute as being ‘adult’,” he said.
Speaking to women on the streets of a number or Queensland towns, a News Corp poll of more than 500 women found more than 99 per cent want the government bring in harsher sentences for juveniles found guilty of rape and to be made a priority over car theft.
Over a 36-hour period, of the more than 1000 readers who responded to an online poll, 96 per cent responded that think rape should be included as an ‘adult crime’.
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Originally published as Qld LNP government’s deafening silence on sentences for teen rapists left out of adult crime, adult time law changes
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