Ashgrove MP Jonty Bush will remain in Labor Party after quit threat over youth crime laws

Outspoken Brisbane MP Jonty Bush has revealed her position on the Labor Party days after threatening to quit over a bitter internal battle on tough youth crime laws.

Jonty Bush campaigning in Bardon. Thursday October 3, 2024. Picture, John Gass

Outspoken Labor MP Jonty Bush has declared she will remain in the party, days after threatening to quit over a bitter internal battle on tough youth crime laws.

A strident Ms Bush has thrown her support behind Opposition Leader Steven Miles while vowing to keep airing her “strong opinions” and speaking up for her community.

Ms Bush, in a social media video on Saturday, said Queensland “deserved a strong opposition” and she had not come this far to give up.

Labor faced its first reckoning in opposition after MPs split on whether to support the government’s Making Queensland Safer Laws.

Ms Bush, a former victims of crime advocate whose sister Jacinta and father Robert were murdered in separate incidents in 2000, has repeatedly spoken out against laws that force youth offenders behind bars for longer.

While Mr Miles was ultimately able to corral Labor MPs to support the laws after a heated 50-minute emergency meeting, a devastated Ms Bush declared she would be considering her future within her party.

Jonty Bush (right (with then-premier Steven Miles before the October state election. Picture: Adam Head

According to people in the room, Ms Bush told colleagues she had lost confidence in Mr Miles and the values of the Labor Party.

In a video posted to social media on Saturday night, Ms Bush revealed her “strong” reaction was due to the “exhaustion” of watching “governments make terrible decisions” and partly a “trauma response” from her lived experience.

“This week I’ve taken time to talk to my friends and to my family, I’ve spoken to advocates, and importantly, to ALP members and locals in my community who did vote me back in because they trust me to represent them,” she said.

“And they have reminded me bad systems don’t get better when good people walk away. I’m really proud of where I am, I’m really proud of where I’m from and what I’ve done, and I’m proud of the stances I’ve taken, and I’m not going anywhere.

“Queenslanders deserve a strong opposition, and I want to be part of a political movement that others are proud to be part of. So I didn’t come this far to give up.”

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie had seized on Ms Bush’s alleged barb against Mr Miles’ leadership as evidence his position was in jeopardy and a “Christmas coup” was underway.

Jonty Bush emerges from the Labor Caucus room after the state election. Picture: David Clark

But Ms Bush told the Sunday Mail she needed to “draw a line under last week and move on”. “I have strong opinions and I won’t stop speaking up on behalf of my community,” she said. “But Steven absolutely has my support and I look forward to working with him and colleagues to hold the Crisafulli government to account.”

The tough new laws mean children face life imprisonment for murder, manslaughter, acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm and unlawful striking causing death.

Magistrates have also lost the ability to lock the media out of juvenile proceedings.

Under the changes a child’s criminal history will also be carried into adulthood when they are sentenced for a crime.

It will also become easier for children on the cusp of turning 18 or reaching adulthood in a youth prison or watch-house to be quickly transferred to an adult facility.