Former minister Robert Schwarten weighs in on youth crime

Former Labor government minister Robert Schwarten has called for both sides of politics to tackle youth crime with an all-party standing Parliamentary Committee.

A former Labor government Minister has called for an all-party standing Parliamentary Committee to tackle Queensland’s youth crime crisis, saying a bipartisan approach was the only way forward.

In the wake of a horrific triple-fatal crash allegedly involving a 13-year-old driver and the government facing immense pressure to act, Robert Schwarten – who spent more than two decades in office – told The Courier-Mail an all-party inquiry could uncover new ideas.

“My view is there are solutions out there begging to be heard in a non-adversarial way,” he said.

“If the parliament is serious about this issue, the parliament can have an all-party committee which looks specifically at this.”

The former Public Works, Housing and Racing Minister was one of the architects of the parliament’s current system of bipartisan parliamentary committees, designed to ensure scrutiny and accountability on key government areas.

Former Premier Peter Beattie and Robert Schwarten in 2000. Pic: Steve Pohlner

He said a complex issue such as youth justice would benefit from such scrutiny, and suggested a committee could travel interstate and overseas to examine how different jurisdictions had tackled the problem.

“The Opposition should remember that should they become the government, this problem is also going to confront them,” he said.

“They need to depoliticise this issue – while you can sell the pants off it, that won’t solve it.

“This is not a vote winning issue, and people in the community expect politicians to pull their weight regardless of what party they’re in.

“Politicians of all parties have to own it and deal with it, rather than being on this constant merry-go-round.”

Mr Schwarten also revealed he and his family had also been victims of youth crime, saying “every member of our family has had an unfavourable interaction with young thieves”.

Read Mr Schwarten’s powerful opinion piece on his own famiy’s experience with youth crime here.

Originally published as Former minister Robert Schwarten weighs in on youth crime