David Crisafulli’s big call on youth crime

The Queensland Police Union has called for more police and child safety officers as the LNP pledges tougher sentences for juvenile offenders.

Young criminals committing serious crimes would be slapped with adult sentences under a major pre-election pitch by Opposition Leader David Crisafulli.

The policy has found support from some community leaders including Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers and Northern Territory senator Jacinta Price.

Mr Leavers said the the LNP proposal was a “good first step” but that thousands of new police and child safety officers would be needed and the judiciary must be held to account.

Mr Crisafulli used his speech to the LNP State Convention on Sunday to reveal his government would change the law to ensure youth committing serious crime including murder, manslaughter, grievous bodily harm and dangerous operation and unlawful use of a motor vehicle would be sentenced as adults.

He declared the “generation of untouchables must end”.

“If you make the choice to commit adult crimes, you should know we have made the choice to ensure there are consequences for that behaviour,” he said.

“We will restore consequences for actions for young criminals – adult crime, adult time.”

Mr Crisafulli told the Today show on Monday that a push for tougher sentencing would “act as a deterrent” and curb youth crime in Queensland.

“It just can’t go on what’s happening at the moment. And we’ve unpacked quite a bit in this policy. Firstly, we want to send a message that if you do adult crime, there will be adult time,” Mr Crisafulli told Today.

“And we believe that it will act as a deterrent. The figures show that where there are consequences for actions, it deters behaviour.

“But the other element we want to do is when kids are released. We want to make sure that we rehabilitate them. We want to make sure that there are intensive programs to turn them around, and that’s not happening the way it should at the moment, and it’s failing at both ends of the spectrum.

“And that’s why we’ve got a generation of untouchables. That’s why we’ve got more victims in Queensland than anywhere else in the country. And that’s why things must change and they will change if government changes.”

Mr Crisafulli said implementing harsher punishments for young criminals would put “victims’ rights before the rights of offenders”.

Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli. Picture: Dan Peled / NewsWire

“It can’t continue and the loss of a life has to count for something. And if that loss of life happens by somebody who is under the age of 18, that doesn’t make that victim’s life any less valuable. And we’ve got to send a message. It’s got to change.

“It can’t continue the way things are, and adult crime, adult time sends the message. And if you look at the figures, it shows that messages matter.

“In the case of robbery with intent, there’s a 71 per cent decrease when people turn 18. That’s not by chance. That’s because there are consequences for that behaviour, that change when someone becomes 18. And this is a game changer and it says to the residents of Queensland that victims’ rights will come before the rights of offenders.”

An LNP government would also provide funding for a 12-month post-release plan for every child released from detention.

Responding to the proposal, Northern Territory senator Jacinta Price said “serious crimes need to be considered” for heftier penalties but that the circumstances of the children were also important.

“I would suggest that, again, you can’t have one lot of policy without also looking at the circumstances of these children,” Ms Price told ABC radio.

“If they are children who are experiencing domestic and family violence, sexual abuse with their families have failed them, then it’s up to the authorities to do something in order to protect those children so they don’t end up down there.

“I mean, you know, applying these sorts of sentences for crimes is at the other end of the issue. We need to be preventing this in the first instance so that kids don’t end up on that path. So I would suggest to any state or territory considering applying such sentences that they also need to very seriously take the other end of the issue, ensuring that these children are protected in the first place so they don’t end up in a life of crime.”

NT Senator Jacinta Price. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the sentencing proposal was a good first step, but that more child safety officers and police were needed along with a Judicial Complaints Commission to “hold judges to account”.

“I take the same view as Jacinta Price on these issues,” Mr Leavers said.

“Sure, sentencing a young criminal, who is aged between 10 years old and 18 years old, as an adult where they can be sentenced to their entire life in prison is a good first step ... however that is only one of four pieces to the puzzle.”

Mr Leavers said the state must immediately increase by 300 the number of child safety officers in Queensland.

“Most young criminals, particularly first nations offenders, are victims of heinous crimes committed within their own domestic situation,” he said.

“We also need to immediately increase the number of police in Queensland by at least 2000 because the overly cumbersome and unworkable nature of domestic and family violence legislation means police do not have time for regular policing matters.”

But Mr Leavers said none of the policy positions would ever work until “we hold the judiciary to account”.

“I have long said that Queensland doesn’t have a crime problem, we have a judge problem,” Mr Leavers said.

“Until we introduce a Judicial Complaints Commission — made up of regular citizens, and definitely not retired judges, who can hold judges to account and for the first time ever in Queensland be able to dismiss judges who fail to meet community expectations — we will never fix crime in Queensland.

“The public has had enough of judges who preside over a revolving door at the courts and until judges are held to account and are able to be dismissed, nothing will ever change.”

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers. Picture: Liam Kidston

Mr Crisafulli accused the Labor government of “cuddling young criminals” for the past decade and argued it was too late for Premier Steven Miles.

“The state government says it’s doing what matters, but it didn’t do what mattered when it mattered,” he said.

University of Southern Queensland Criminologist Dr Suzanne Reich however, slammed the policy as unjust and a waste of money that would only lead to more crime.

“Harsh penalties are reactionary and they don’t address the underlying causes, motivations and contributors of crime,” Dr Reich said.

Instead Dr Reich said the justice system needed reform as the current model does not work as more than 50 per cent of people who are incarcerated will reoffend and be sent back to jail.

“Tough on crime policies appeal to the public’s punitive sentiment, but people need to stop and look at it, and ask, ‘is this working and if not why not,” she said.

“That is only a 50 per cent return on investment for taxpayers, it is an enormous amount of money that goes into our jails.

“What the LNP is suggesting is going to cost more money and have the same impact or worsen the crime problem.”

The LNP policy announcement included $175 million to support young offenders in the 12 months after they are released from detention.

Every plan will be tailored to the young person and will help them with employment, schooling or TAFE, driving lessons, professional mentoring, volunteering and sport.

In 2023 972 juveniles were sentenced to youth detention and 447 of those were sentenced to more than one term.

“While some may agree that adult sentences for juveniles are a good idea, developmentally juveniles are in a different place,” Dr Reich said.

“To punish a child as an adult would not be just, which is what our system is supposed to be about.

“Many of these juvenile offenders were first victims themselves and never received justice.

“This policy will perpetuate the cycle of the harm and someone has to stop that harm.”

Dr Reich said the research into recidivism rates shows that longer, tougher penalties, not only fail to reduce crime, they actually make it worse.

“We only have to look at those state in the US, states that impose life sentences and even the death penalty to see that these don’t work

“People might see those sentences as proportional – a life for a life – but in all of those states it has had opposite effect on the rate of those serious crimes.

“Harsh penalties create a higher crime rate.”