Shannon Fentiman intervenes in proposal to raise age of criminal responsibility

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman forced to intervene ahead of a push at this weekend’s state Labor conference to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14.

A push by the Queensland Indigenous Labor Network to raise the age of criminal responsibility has been met with backlash, forcing Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman to intervene and rework the proposal.

It’s understood Labor members have been working towards a compromise ahead of the party’s State Conference today where the issue is threatening to reach the floor.

The initial proposal was included in Queensland Labor’s draft platform which reads the party would increase of the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years old “in line with international best practice”.

But it’s understood Ms Fentiman provided a reworked proposal which doesn’t commit to raising the age in line with international conventions, but rather in accordance with a national approach.

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman has reworked a proposal about raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. File picture

A delegate familiar with the issue said there was pressure from regional members to not increase the age because of youth crime concerns in areas like Townsville.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk distanced her government from the internal push last week, saying while the Labor Party had “very robust debates”, this did not translate to government policy.

Attorney-generals from across the country are set to debate raising the age in coming months off the back of a national review undertaken by the Western Australian Government.

The AMWU and UWU are among those supporting Ms Fentiman’s proposal.

It’s understood the issue was still being worked through late yesterday.

Meanwhile a debate about whether union officials should be allowed entry to mines and quarries if there were safety concerns is still threatening to erupt on the conference floor today, with the CFMEU Mining and Energy Division and the AWU opposing the push.

The Courier-Mail this week revealed left-faction unions the AMWU and the ETU will move a motion to push for laws to be expanded because under current legislation, if a union official is onsite to discuss enterprise bargaining negotiations and saw a safety breach, they have no legal ability to respond, undertake inspections, investigate complaints or issue improvement notices.

The push follows a number of safety concerns in recent years.

Meanwhile the Premier is expected to announce several new schools for Queensland’s fastest growing regions at the conference on Saturday.