Dubbo politicians react to new penalties for ‘post and boast’ youth crime in regional areas

A new proposal which will see stricter bail laws and harsher penalties for young offenders boasting on social media has mixed opinions in Dubbo. Here’s the latest.

Mixed opinions have emerged following the proposal of harsher penalties for children who post videos on social media of car theft and home invasions.

Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders has labelled the new moves as “narrow”, while Dubbo legislative council representative Stephen Lawrence said they would address the “undeniable increase in crime”.

Under the NSW Government’s package to combat bush crime, announced earlier this week, child offenders could face up to two more years in jail for advertising criminal behaviour.

The $26.2 million package aims to combat regional youth crime by introducing and strengthening early intervention and prevention programs.

The government has also committed to a $13.4 million trial in Moree to address crime, support young people and improve community safety.

The trial will include additional judicial resources, new bail accommodation and support services, out of hours activities and a strengthened police force.

If successful, it will roll out to other regional communities.

Tougher bail laws will be introduced for young offenders who are already on bail for serious offences. Photo: Facebook

Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders said that while he acknowledged the effort to tackle regional crime, the “narrow” trial would not necessarily work for Dubbo or other regional towns.

“Violent crimes aren’t captured in the new legislation – sexual assault and domestic violence crimes have increased but they aren’t captured in the legislation,” Mr Saunders said.

Mr Saunders has called for a parliamentary inquiry to tackle regional crime and support services to receive expert advice on the next steps forward.

Dugald Saunders said the package and trial were “narrow”. Picture: Tijana Birdjan.

“We need to get experts in the room to go through what the solutions are, and I think there does need to be some changes made around bail laws, but not a narrow cast like we’re seeing, a broader cast,” he said.

“There also needs to be the ability for people from a range of non-government organisations to have their say.”

Meanwhile Dubbo legislative council representative Stephen Lawrence said there had been “alarming increases” in serious indictable offences in regional communities, including Dubbo and Moree.

Stephen Lawrence welcomes the introduction of the amended bail act and introduction of more support services. Picture: Toby Zerna

“This is going to deal with both the ongoing crime spike at the moment but also starting to deal with the underlying causes of youth crime,” he said.

He said car theft in Moree was eight times the state average, while there had been a 27 per cent increase in car theft and 8 per cent increase in home invasions over a five-year period.

CCTV grabs from Dubbo Crime Reports Facebook page. Photo: Facebook

“Let’s start giving these kids a chance to actually comply with bail and not reoffend,” he said.

Mr Lawrence confirmed nine police districts, including Dubbo, would see further crime prevention strategies introduced.

“A lot of good work has been done in Dubbo in recent years in terms of the push for rehab, the drug court and the Youth Koori Court – we need to give these programs time to start working because they’re long-term programs but at the same time, we can’t ignore what is happening in terms of crime,” he said.

“We need to protect our regional communities … at a time of an undeniable increase in crime.”