‘Adult crime, adult time’ laws fast-tracked to meet Xmas deadline

Major laws to lock youth offenders up for longer will be scrutinised for just a week ­before being passed by mid-December.

Premier David Crisafulli visits the Department of Transport and Main Roads on Wednesday. Picture: Office of the Premier

Major laws to lock youth offenders up for longer will be scrutinised for just a week ­before being passed by mid-December.

It comes as likely ministers in the LNP’s first government cabinet in nearly a decade prepare to be assigned portfolios on Thursday, ahead of being sworn in on Friday.

Premier David Crisafulli has confirmed Parliament will be reconvened for the first time since the election on November 26, with another set of sittings from December 10.

It means the LNP’s marquee “adult crime, adult time” laws – which includes allowing judges to sentence children who commit serious crimes to the same jail time as adults – will go through just a week of the usual scrutiny process.

Under usual practice of the parliament, bills were scrutinised by committees for about six weeks, with experts, peak bodies and other stakeholders able to pick apart the proposal for potential weaknesses.

Mr Crisafulli promised during the election the laws would go through the parliamentary committee process, but did not specify for how long.

The emphatic win had since delivered the LNP a mandate for the laws, Mr Crisafulli said.

“I promised we would get straight to work and that’s what we are going to do to deliver these tougher laws before the end of the year,” he said.

“We’ve always been upfront the priority is to pass these laws by Christmas, and we’ve been speaking with Queenslanders about ‘adult crime, adult time’ for months.

Premier David Crisafulli with likely youth justice minister Laura Gerber

“Queenslanders have been clear this is what they want, now we’ll act on this and deliver as promised.”

Opposition Leader Steven Miles has already flagged, in an interview with ABC Radio Brisbane earlier this week, that Labor will not stand in the way of the LNP’s laws.

He said the election showed the LNP clearly had a mandate to legislate its youth crime crackdown.

The LNP’s new laws are expected to be strongly opposed by youth justice advocates.

A series of submissions sent to the Senate inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system shows Queensland organisations are fiercely at odds with the new government’s policies.

Queensland Family and Child Commission’s Luke Twyford, in a submission, said the community would not be made safer through the harsher treatment of young people.

“Our punishment approach is increasing recidivism rates, not deterring them,” he wrote.

“To effectively address youth crime, policy reform must prioritise the root causes of offending behaviour – social disadvantage, dysfunction and disengagement.”

The LNP’s plan is to change the Youth Justice Act to ensure children committing serious crimes including murder, manslaughter, grievous bodily harm and dangerous operation and unlawful use of a motor vehicle would be sentenced as adults.

More offences could be added, based on the advice of an expert panel of police, the judiciary and victims.

Detention as a last resort would also be removed.

Originally published as ‘Adult crime, adult time’ laws fast-tracked to meet Xmas deadline