Youth crime details, ‘stuff-up Steven’: LNP launches election campaign
Children in prison would be punished for not going to school, have their television taken from them if they misbehave and be forced into isolation if they abuse guards under the LNP’s latest youth crime measures.
QLD News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Children in prison would be punished for not going to school, have their television taken from them if they misbehave and be forced into isolation if they abuse guards under the LNP’s latest youth crime measure.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli unveiled the policy in front of about 250 of the party faithful at the LNP’s campaign launch at the Ipswich Showgrounds on Sunday – which included gatecrashing Labor-aligned protesters and a high-profile endorsement.
Mr Crisafulli’s 25-minute speech focused on what he has referred to as the “four crises” – health, housing, youth crime, and cost-of-living – with the LNP leader rattling off a list of the party’s previously announced policies.
He also announced a new plank of the LNP’s policy focused on consequences for young criminals when they’re in detention.
The LNP’s “detention with purpose” plan has three planks including making education compulsory for kids behind bars, a period of isolation for those who abuse guards, and a behavioural management system to reward good acts and punish the bad.
Premier Steven Miles was quick to condemn the policy and Mr Crisafulli for “taking a very complicated problem and pretending to have a simple solution”.
According to the LNP, their “detention with purpose” policy will “restore discipline and rehabilitation as the cornerstones of detention to ensure kids don’t fall behind in education and have the best chance of a positive future”.
Mr Crisafulli confirmed the policies were already in place now, but weren’t being implemented properly. Children in Queensland’s prisons receive less than three hours of schooling a day, which Mr Crisafulli said was unacceptably low.
It is unclear how many extra teachers would be needed, and how the LNP plans to force children to go to school – though Mr Crisafulli said it would be a “fair and reasonable” punishment to take away a child’s television privileges if they don’t go.
Youths who assault detention officers would also be put into a “period of isolation” – not solitary confinement.
According to Mr Crisafulli, at the moment young people are allowed to go back to their peers just minutes after assaulting a guard.
The LNP want to ensure the length of time in isolation is enough to “send a message”.
But how long that is will be determined by the experts.
“We’ll make sure that we’ve got people around the table,” he said.
Kids behind bars would also be subject to a behavioural system “to build privileges for good behaviour and remove privileges for bad behaviour”.
“Frontline staff tell us access to a television in a young person’s room is almost never denied despite the severity of the behaviour, because it is considered a human right,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“We have a different attitude. Access to food is a human right, access to shelter is a human right, access to education is a human right. Access to a television is not and it’s a privilege, and should be earned.”
Mr Miles, campaigning in Pine Rivers, slammed the LNP’s latest policy, saying it was a scheme that wouldn’t prevent a single crime.
“The fact is, education is already mandatory in our detention facilities,” he said. “And what we’ve been doing over time is increasing access to schooling and increasing access to health care services because so many of the young people entering our detention system are suffering from mental health, alcohol and drug abuse issues.
“So we are doing what we know works when it comes to preventing re-offending.”
The high-security event was gatecrashed by Labor-aligned protesters, including many wearing Electrical Trade Union shirts, one inflatable dinosaur, and four in handmaids costumes popularised by the TV series adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale.
The protesters outside the Ipswich Showgrounds yelled chants including “my body, my choice” in a nod to an ongoing campaign by Labor-aligned unions stoking concern an LNP government would change Queensland’s access to abortion laws.
Mr Crisafulli has repeatedly said changes to abortion access were not part of his plan.
The daughter of Ipswich grandmother Vyleen White, who was allegedly killed by a teenage boy in a shopping centre, was a guest speaker at the LNP launch where she called on Queenslanders to vote in a David Crisafulli LNP government.
Cindy Micallef said there was “no other option” but to make Mr Crisafulli Premier.
“I am one of the few Queenslanders who looked both Steven Miles and David Crisafulli in the eye and this is why I will be voting for David Crisafulli and the LNP team,” she said.
Opposition Deputy Leader Jarrod Bleijie was the opening act of the launch.
Mr Bleijie labelled Mr Miles a “desperate man inside all of those weird videos he posts”.
“Everything he touches he stuffs up... I call him stuff-up Steven,” he said.
Originally published as Youth crime details, ‘stuff-up Steven’: LNP launches election campaign
‘Unsafe’: Caravan dealer’s payout after van’s failure hours after purchase
A Queensland second-hand caravan dealer has been ordered to reimburse a customer for the thousands of dollars she spent fixing the “unsafe” van he sold her which suffered a “major failure” just hours after she bought it.
Man charged after alleged Gold Coast armed robbery
A man has been charged by police after an alleged early morning robbery on the Gold Coast. Read when he’ll face court.