Youth justice Qld: Emails show minister snubbed in media conference

Emails obtained by The Courier-Mail have revealed how the Youth Justice Minister was snubbed by police after a fatal home invasion.

Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard was told by her staff police didn’t want her at a media conference the day after Moreton Bay mother Emma Lovell was allegedly murdered by two teens.

Emails obtained by The Courier-Mail sent on December 27 – the day after Ms Lovell died – show correspondence between Ms Linard, her media adviser, her chief of staff and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s team discussing who would address the media.

An email to the Minister at 11.20am says “as you probably know, Premier’s (office) have asked you to do a stand-up (press conference) re the incident in North Lakes. They have said we can choose the location but it needs to be at 3.30pm.”

Ms Linard responds “I’ll stand up with police at 2.30pm. Not sure where 3.30pm came from.”

Her staffer then responds the new time came from Ms Palaszczuk’s media adviser, and “police have said they don’t want to stand up with you and want you to do a separate stand-up”.

A text message sent by Ms Palaszczuk’s media adviser about 10 minutes later then says Ms Linard will hold a press conference with police – which she did – and includes a number of talking points.

Ms Palaszczuk’s office did not directly respond to questions from The Courier-Mail about whether her staff intervened and insisted Ms Linard appear with police.

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll on Monday said it was not unusual for police to go back and forth between the minister’s office as to who attends or why they attend.

“I can’t tell you the reason why,” she said.

“There will be many times where I have a discussion with my Minister and I say this is purely operational minister, I just want an operational head,” Commissioner Carroll said.

A Queensland police spokeswoman said that when co-ordinating a media conference it was common practice to consider a range of options including spokespeople, timing and location.

“This media conference was co-ordinated in tight timeframes in the midst of a high-profile homicide investigation following a tragic incident the night before,” she said.

Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard with Police Minister Mark Ryan on Sunday. Picture: Lachie Millard

Opposition police spokesman Dale Last accused the government of using a homicide investigation “like their own media stage show”.

“The Palaszczuk Labor Government has no shame politicising Queensland police to promote themselves, even after police said they did not want the minister there,” he said.

Right to Information documents revealed this week exchanges between Ms Palaszczuk and Ms Linard’s teams in the days following Ms Lovell’s death, including that changes were made to Ms Palaszczuk’s signature youth crime policy announcement just 15 minutes before a press conference.

Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard on Sunday said the last-minute issues raised related to a media release and not the “measured process” the government went though.

When asked if it was “frantic and chaotic behind the scenes” given staff questioned the legality of the wording about youth justice reform programs, requesting changes just minutes before a press conference, Ms Linard said the changes were about ”proofreading” a media release.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said the government‘s youth justice laws were “considered and measured”.

“Anyone who has one per cent of understanding about how government works knows that formulating policy positions takes time, it takes many months,” he said.

“Just remember that at the time of this announcement, the opposition were calling for parliament to be recalled immediately.

“They wanted the laws debated urgently.

“The government was considered and measured, went to consultation once the announcement was made and then went through a proper parliamentary process to ensure that the laws were implemented appropriately.”