‘Morally reprehensible’ LNP Cairns candidate slammed over youth crime policy
Yolonde Entsch has come under fire as questions are raised about what the Opposition would do to reduce youth crime if it is elected later this year.
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LNP candidate for Cairns Yolonde Entsch has come under fire for her youth crime policy and a “misleading” statement on the causes of youth crime as questions are raised about what the Opposition would do to reduce youth crime if it comes to power in October, 2024.
In a statement responding to Newscorp questions about how Ms Entsch would reduce youth crime in Cairns, Ms Entsch said “making our community safer is imperative and is a key priority for me and a future LNP Government”.
Ms Entsch criticised the government for “watering down the Youth Justice Act”, proposing to build a youth detention centre in Edmonton, and putting children in Cairns watch houses.
She said the LNP would reduce youth crime “by removing detention as a last resort and delivering gold standard early intervention”.
The Cairns Post asked Ms Entsch what “gold standard early intervention” would look like but did not receive a response.
LNP leader David Crisafulli has put out nine media releases in the last 18 months calling for the government to act on youth crime, but there is nothing on LNP website which details what their policy is for reducing crime.
Cairns anti-crime advocate Perri Conti said she was becoming increasingly frustrated with the LNP on the youth crime issue.
“I keep asking them what are you talking about when you say ‘gold star early intervention’ - what does it actually look like? What are you planning to do? I’m getting nothing in response.”
Experts tend to agree that there is a growing problem with youth crime - not with the rise in the number of youth offenders, but with a core group who keep on reoffending.
Ms Entsch also said “most of these young people and children (who are committing crimes) are in the resi-care system. Common sense tells us they need routines, responsibilities, education, sleep, and to be taught respect – for themselves.”
However, department figures show that at June 30, 2023, just 5% of all young people aged 10 or over living in a residential care home Queensland-wide were subject to a child protection and youth justice order – 73 young people out of a total of 1451. Or put it another way, 73 out of 9636 young offenders.
Member for Barron Craig Crawford said “the LNP candidate for Cairns linking young people in residential care to youth crime is both misleading and stigmatising to some of the most vulnerable young people in Queensland”.
“It is outrageous and morally reprehensible for Yolande Entsch to demonise kids in care who have been harmed, or are at risk of harm.”
The furore comes as the Queensland Parliament received dozens of submissions for its inquiry into youth justice reform and many of them venture on territory untouched by either major parties.
In October 2023, the Youth Justice Reform Select Committee was established to conduct an inquiry to examine ongoing reforms to the youth justice system and support for victims of crime.
The Australian Workers Union wrote in its submission that a “significant staffing shortage across the youth detention system is a major factor behind the incidence of youth crime in Queensland”.
Its research found that a failure to meet staffing levels found that many offenders in Cleveland are kept in lockdown for long periods during any given week, saying, “There is an average of around 33% of the young people at CYDC not receiving meaningful rehabilitation on any single day of that 10-day period”.
Their submission said the lack of staff doesn’t just hinder rehabilitation but that “in the first six months of 2023, there have been 140 reports of assaults on staff in Queensland’s youth detention centres - an average of over five (5) assaults on workers by youth offenders every single week”.
In a submission from Mareeba Shire Council, Mayor Angela Toppin noted that the Local Government Association of Queensland has a nine-point action plan, which includes proposals for more diversionary programs and indigenous police officers, along with an audit of all justice youth services.
Ms Toppin said she was particularly concerned with the financial burden for victims of crime and wanted increased financial support for individuals and businesses impacted by crime.
“All too often, victims of crime are also forced to carry the financial burden through no fault of their own” she said.
Queensland Police Service statistics show in 2022/23, across the Mareeba and Kuranda policing divisions, approximately 57 per cent of property crime, which includes unlawful use of a motor vehicle, break and enter, fraud, wilful damage, and other theft, was committed by offenders aged between 11 and 17.
A close look at the minor parties shows the Greens have not updated their youth crime policy since 2014, in contrast to the Katter Australia Party which submitted a six-page submission to the Youth Crime Review.
The Katter Australia Party, which currently has three MPs in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, recommends longer sentences through their relocation sentencing policy where repeat offenders would be sentenced to rural or remote locations with an agricultural setting where they also receive schooling and education.
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