Juvenile Crime Cairns: Are parents doing enough to reduce Far North crime spree?
Pressure is building on the parents of FNQ’s worst kid crims as pollies arrive in Cairns on Thursday to reveal what the government plans to do to tackle juvenile crime. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WHERE are the parents?
It’s a question being screamed by politicians, police departments and rank-and-file families of the Far North as the region watches in horror young lives being destroyed by youth crime.
While much of the anger is being directed towards the “out-of-control” juvenile offenders running amok on the streets of Cairns, the glare is turning towards the people entrusted with keeping them safe.
Children and Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard will touch down in the city today to discuss the extent of a “very complex issue” that has enveloped the tropical north, and just days after a 14-year-old boy’s hopes and dreams of a meaningful life went up in smoke when an alleged stolen car smashed into a tree.
She said “child maltreatment” was a huge societal issue and the people of Cairns deserved “to feel safe”.
“The community don’t want to see that, they want to see young people being safe and raised in safe homes where the kids have food, they have a safe roof over their heads, they’re going to school,” she said.
“And we know any kind of child abuse, any issues in that regard ... community steps in and says that’s not ok.
“So I hear what the Cairns community is saying, everyone has a right to feel safe.”
Queensland Police Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Hodgman said the onus was shifting towards the mums, dads and designated adults responsible for their children, some of whom are as young as 10 and taking part in criminal behaviour.
“If young people can’t be controlled by any other way than in custody, then that’s what should happen,” he said.
“Parents and responsible adults are being brought in to provide assurance to the court – this is a significant change.”
He said some families had “lost control of children” but police and government departments were intensifying their focus with families and community leaders in an effort to address underlying issues.
Cairns MP Michael Healy said while his government accepted the gravity of the problem; the parenting and conditions some of the offenders were dealing with could not be ignored.
“When people are having children and they are not parenting, it’s going to be extremely difficult,” he said.
“I mean, who would allow a child to be out in a car travelling at over 120km/h at one o’clock in the morning. I mean what are the parents doing here?
“These kids aren’t being nurtured, they aren’t being loved, they’re not being cared for, they are growing up in violent environments and they are being exposed to the worst of the worst.
“It’s safer for these kids to be on the street than it is to be at home.”
Family violence expert Sandra Keogh agreed, saying many young people turned to groups and gangs for support.
“The reality for a lot of young people is they are trying to escape home life,” she said.
“And some of those (criminal) behaviours they are engaging in are probably steeped in other things.”
Ms Linard is expected to outline the government’s support and investment in tackling juvenile crime in Cairns on Thursday.
More Coverage
Originally published as Juvenile Crime Cairns: Are parents doing enough to reduce Far North crime spree?
Person rushed to hospital following Tablelands car crash
A regional road has reopened to traffic and a person has been taken to hospital following a two-vehicle crash in the Tablelands on Tuesday morning.
Far North’s ‘voices’ to parliament reveal their efforts one year on
The Far North’s three elected parliamentarians reveal what efforts they’ve made in the space of Indigenous affairs, one year after the failed referendum.