Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber and Townsville MPs Janelle Poole, Natalie Marr and Adam Baillie speak with justice workers

Minister for Youth Justice Laura Gerber has outlined the time frame for the LNP’s plan to end Townsville’s status as the ‘epicentre of the crime crisis’.

Townsville MPs Janelle Poole, Natalie Marr, Adam Bailie and the Minister for Youth Justice Laura Gerber speak to the media in Townsville. Picture: Shae Beplate.

In Townsville to discuss the region’s pressing youth crime issues, newly appointed Minister for Youth Justice, Laura Gerber, met with frontline justice workers alongside Townsville’s new MPs.

Minister Gerber emphasised that the LNP has “big plans” to tackle youth crime, grounded in the party’s strong anti-crime pledges made during the recent election.

“We know that Townsville is really unique in the crime that it’s dealing with right now, and we know that it’s been the epicentre of the crime crisis for a long time now.” Ms Gerber said.

She said another facet that played a part in the youth crime crisis was housing.

“Up north we are seeing overcrowding in houses here in Townsville, and that creates a real unique situation for our co-responders who are on the ground trying to intervene early, trying to prevent kids from continuing to go down life of crime.”

 Ms Gerber said she was “100 per cent” positive that their Adult Crime, Adult Time laws will be in place by Christmas.

“It will go through the proper process, it will go through committee, but it will be passed by the parliament by Christmas,” she said.

“Queenslanders have demanded it. Townsville, in particular, has demanded it, and our frontline officers and our police need it to do their job.”

Townsville MPs Janelle Poole, Adam Bailie, Natalie Marr and the Minister for Youth Justice Laura Gerber speak to the media in Townsville. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Citing Townsville as one of the locations for the Crisafulli government’s election promise of a crime prevention school, Ms Gerber said it was “fantastic news” for the area.

“I’ve just been talking with the Early Action Group around what that will mean for them and the families that they support,” she said.

“They’ll be able to refer some of the children and the families that they support right now into a specialised youth justice school for crime prevention and that’s going to be a game change for this region.”

Ms Gerber said the Crisafulli government hoping to get a tender for the school “as soon as possible”.

“We are talking next year, but I mean, I’m a person of action. I want to see it as soon as possible,” she said.

Speaking on Cleveland Youth Detention Centre the Minister said another “amazing initiative” for Townsville would be the Staying on Track program which will provide $175 million of intensive support for youth offenders.

“Every single child that’s in detention will get 12 months worth of intensive support as a result of the funding that we have announced and it’s game changing,” she said.

“It’s a huge amount of funding that hasn’t been given in a very long time to early intervention.”

When asked on concerns to find enough staff for the detention centre, Ms Gerber said the issue had been raised with her and it’s not just at Cleveland.

Minister for Youth Justice Laura Gerber speaks to the media in Townsville. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“It is also our frontline officers here on the ground. It has been a real problem to be able to recruit staff to be able to provide the services that both the children and the families, but also our correctional services need. So, I’m working with the Department right now to come up with a workforce plan to fix that,” she said.

With a landmark inspection into operations at the centre, highlighting the use of separation where children are locked in their rooms alone, the Minister said detention with a purpose was a key part of the LNP’s plan.

“It’s a key part of our plan to make sure that our detention centres no longer are a revolving door for youth crime,” she said.

“It’s a change that needs to happen within our correctional facilities so that we don’t end up with kids coming out and going straight back in, with kids that aren’t getting the education they need, with kids that aren’t getting health care they need in our correctional facilities.”

Originally published as Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber and Townsville MPs Janelle Poole, Natalie Marr and Adam Baillie speak with justice workers