Queensland election: Kids curfew ‘aimed at crime-struck cities’

Deb Frecklington says her proposed youth curfew trial in Cairns and Townsville is targeted to fix ‘out of control’ crime in the north Queensland cities.

Barron River MP Craig Crawford and Annastacia Palaszczuk en route to Fitzroy Island, on the Great Barrier Reef. Picture: Dan Peled

Deb Frecklington says her proposed youth curfew trial in Cairns and Townsville is targeted to fix “out of control” crime in the north Queensland cities and she won’t commit to expanding the program if it proves successful.

The Liberal National Party leader revealed on Wednesday that a government led by her would introduce laws giving police powers to stop children from walking the street at night without supervision.

The curfew would apply from 8pm for children aged 14 and younger and 10pm for youths aged 15 to 17.

Police would have the power to take a youth to a community refuge, where they would stay until a parent or social worker picked them up.

Asked on Thursday whether she would consider rolling curfews out in other towns and cities, Ms Frecklington would not say.

“The reason why it’s a trial is because there is an immediate problem that needs fixing,” she said. “Townsville and Cairns have a crime problem. “We would like to see how the trial runs out. This is a preventive measure to ensure kids are kept safe.”

She said the trial was not a “blanket across the state”, as she claimed that juvenile crime in Townsville and Cairns was “out of control”.

Ms Frecklington, who returned to southeast Queensland on Wednesday night after spending the start of the week in the ­regions, turned her focus to childcare in a pitch aimed at working families. She said an LNP government would create tens of thousands of new placements at outside hours school care centres.

She unveiled the $80m pledge as she toured the marginal electorate of Currumbin, held by the LNP with a margin of 1.2 per cent.

About 30,000 new student placements would be created under the plan, which would include a $60m spend to upgrade and expand before and after school care facilities.

Another $10m would be spent to subsidise training for aspiring staff, with a commitment to make the Certificate 3 course free for jobseekers.

Ms Frecklington said there were placement shortages across the state, with 340,000 primary school students in the state school system but only about 56,000 placements.

LNP leader Deb Frecklington at Patterson Glass in Nerang. Picture: Sarah Marshall

“This is why it is important that we get to work, we invest the money so mums and dads can get back into work,” she said. “This is all about making Queensland the best place to raise your family.

“This is an essential service and we need to open it up to ensure there are more places so more people have access.”

Ms Frecklington said the new placements would be spread out across the state, while construction of the new facilities would create 186 jobs.

A new unit would also be set up within the Education Department to co-ordinate before and after school care agreements.

“We know mums and dads are on the waiting list to get into these before and after school care,” she said. “It does impact how many hours they can work.”

Meanwhile, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk spent Thursday at Fitzroy Island, on the Great Barrier Reef, in the Labor electorate of Mulgrave (held by a margin of 10.9 per cent), where she announced $30m in borrowings to fund reef promises.

Ms Palaszczuk’s reef announcement included $10.1m for upgrades to national parks and world heritage areas, a $6m “reef island arks” program that would add to the state’s protected area estate, and $3.9m to develop sailing trails around Townsville and the Whitsundays.