The biggest tragedy about DV on the Gold Coast revealed in State Parliament debate

At least a dozen women running scared on the Gold Coast because perpetrators are not being tracked, even though Police Minister says hundreds of GPS devices are available

A Police officer places flowers at the scene of a murder-suicide on the Gold Coast.

GOLD Coast domestic violence victims are living in fear for up to a week despite hundreds of GPS devices being available to track their perpetrators.

The Gold Coast Bulletin last week revealed only two violent wife beaters have been fitted with GPS trackers on the Coast despite police compiling a “long list” of thugs capable of killing their ex-partners.

Police and community workers are aware of at least a dozen women running scared on the Glitter Strip because predators are not being tracked.

In a speech in State Parliament today Police Minister Mark Ryan maintained the safety of vulnerable Queenslanders “will always be a priority”.

Police minister Mark Ryan said hundreds of GPS trackers are available. Picture: STEWART McLEAN

“We have hundreds of GPS tracking devices at our disposal,” Mr Ryan told the Parliament.

“And as the Police Commissioner has publicly stated, those trackers will be available whenever and wherever the courts order.”

Of the nine tracking devices placed on DV offenders, two were on the Coast, the Bulletin had previously reported.

A report today said a man who had been charged with one count of DV strangulation was the third alleged DV offender to be fitted with a device.

Mr Ryan told the Parliament: “This was a good decision.”

He said the Government would continue to roll out the tracking devices which ensured around-the-clock surveillance of offenders.

Since March the courts had ordered 24 offenders wear the devices, and since last year they had been placed on 800 parolees.

Police officers at a suburban Gold Coast crime scene.

But Mudgeeraba MP and LNP frontbencher Ros Bates, in Question Time, asked Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to “overrule her Minister” and direct that the trackers be made available on the Coast.

The Premier replied: “It’s actually the court that directs that and not the Police Minister.”

Outside the House, Ms Bates told the Bulletin: “It is staggering to think that vulnerable residents in Queensland’s second largest city are treated like second-class citizens under Labor.

“If Annastacia Palaszczuk and her incompetent Police Minister took this issue seriously, GPS trackers would be located and available when needed on the Gold Coast.

Mudgeeraba MP and frontbencher Ros Bates at Parliament. (AAP Image/Darren England)

“To have to bring GPS trackers down from Brisbane is just ridiculous.

“I am constantly contacted by local women who are in fear of their lives and they all say that more needs to be done to protect them and their families.

“Given the Premier’s answer in Parliament, it’s clear that domestic and sexual violence isn’t a priority for Labor.”