Youth crime Qld: UN Youth claims young people demonised, targeted

The Queensland youth wing of the United Nations has attacked the state’s juvenile crime laws, saying young people are being targeted.

Premier David Crisafulli at the weekend. Picture: Tertius Pickard/NCA NewsWire

• Editor’s view: Missing the point

The United Nations Youth branch has bizarrely claimed young Queenslanders can’t go on a night out or see friends without fearing they will be caught in the government’s youth crime crackdown.

It is the latest spat between the state government and representatives of the global body, triggered last month when the expansion of “adult crime, adult time” legislation overrode the Human Rights Act.

Criticism from the UN prompted Premier David Crisafulli to declare, “You don’t control me and I don’t answer to you, I answer to Queenslanders.”

UN Youth Queensland president Steph Archer responded with a missive to Mr Crisafulli on behalf of young people she said had been demonised by his laws.

“Your government’s attitude towards this outcry has been nothing short of disappointing,” she said.

“International standards of human rights exist for a reason.

“We may be a developed and politically stable state, but if we are to violate human rights with no remorse, how can we continue to regard ourselves as morally superior to authoritarian and corrupt states?”

UN Youth Queensland is run by and represents children aged 17 to 25.

Ms Archer – who works in Labor MP Bisma Asif’s electorate office – said UN Youth division consultation with high school students across the state revealed they were concerned with the government’s approach to youth crime.

UN Youth Queensland president Steph Archer. Picture: UN Youth Australia

“Young people feel demonised in this state,” she said.

“They cannot go out at night, hang out with friends in public, or catch public transport without fearing they will be accused of criminal activities.

“When a 12-year-old stabs someone, the solution is not to lock them in a cell for longer, but to ask the question of why a child would do such a thing.

“When a 14 year old commits armed robbery, they cannot be rehabilitated by an adult prison sentence, but require proper counselling, mentorship, and education, which will reduce their chance of reoffending.”

Ms Archer said students in Townsville were concerned about the criminality committed by classmates while Sunshine Coast teenagers argued gender-based violence was the “true issue … not being addressed meaningfully due to a focus on political slogans”.

A government spokesman accused the UN Youth Queensland division of doing Labor’s bidding.

“Steven Miles and his dodgy shadow ministers should just front-up about their secret plan to weaken Queensland’s crime laws again, instead of using desperate and sneaky tactics like this,” he said.

The Salvation Army, Queensland Human Rights Commissioner and Justice Reform Initiative were among community groups to criticise the government’s expansion of its adult crime, adult time legislation.

Victim support groups and the Queensland Police Union say the government’s laws will make the state safer.