Queensland opposition demands immediate youth justice reform

A number of youth justice policies have been raised but Queensland’s opposition says the state needs to immediately make one crucial change.

Queensland’s opposition has called for the immediate reinstatement of breach of bail offences for juvenile criminals following a tragic spate of road accidents.

The death of a pregnant couple in Brisbane on Australia Day allegedly at the hands of a youth in a stolen car thrust the youth crime concerns back into the spotlight.

And the fury in the community has continued to escalate, culminating in the death of Jennifer Board, 22, on Friday night in Townsville during a wild vigilante chase of teens in a suspected stolen vehicle.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is meeting with her cabinet on Monday to discuss the critical issue and has said continually that all options will be considered.

Concerned stakeholders need no invitation, though, with a range of proposals being discussed in recent weeks including the Queensland Police Union’s plan to strap GPS trackers on repeat offenders as well as a petition that has attracted nearly 200,000 signatures.

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The deaths of Matty Field and Kate Leadbetter broke hearts across the country. Picture: from Facebook

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli admits the supposed youth crime crisis requires a nuanced and holistic approach, including early intervention support schemes and improving cultural connections with Indigenous youths.

But he demanded Ms Palaszczuk remove bail exemption provisions in the Youth Justice Act on the first day of the parliamentary sitting year in a little over two weeks.

“I’m not coming to the table with 30 changes and demanding that every one of them be accepted or we won’t support it,” Mr Crisafulli told reporters on Monday.

“We’re asking for one thing to occur immediately because we see a correlation in the change in that legislation with the massive fall in people complying.

“I don’t want to rush, I don’t want to make mistakes. I want to fix what we see as the core tenet of the problem.”

Opposition justice spokesman Tim Nicholls said the Palaszczuk government “had its head in the sand” on youth justice concerns.

“This Labor state government has had to be brought kicking and screaming to the table when it comes to admitting that their youth justice laws just aren’t working,” he said.

“We need to bring back an offence for breach of bail — actions must have consequences for these recidivist, repeat, malicious young offenders.”

Jennifer Board was riding her motorbike on Friday night when tragedy struck. Picture: Instagram

The call for action follows a plea from Ms Board’s close friend and police officer, Luke Matthews, who said something had to change after the death of his “loveliest” and “most innocent” friend.

“Myself and my fellow officers deal with these same offenders all the time, and the current youth justice process does not work,” he said in a detailed Facebook post.

“Stop letting these criminals out on bail. We need to start acknowledging that despite the fact they’re juveniles, their actions have very serious consequences, and if they they’re committing these very serious offences of the exact same nature, over and over again, why are they even being released?

“I hope you feel somewhat responsible for this death because this should have been prevented.”

Mr Matthews claims the Youth Justice Act is designed for children who have committed a first offence for a petty crime such as stealing a chocolate bar from a supermarket.

“It does not work for a criminal who has 20-plus counts of break and enter and unlawful use of a motor vehicle,” he wrote.

“Legislation needs to evolve to allow harsher punishments for the repeat offenders. These criminals have shown that despite our extreme efforts, they are refusing to comply with the legislation and clearly have no concern for it or human life.”