Queensland election: LNP proposes night curfew to tackle youth crime
A night curfew would be trialled in Townsville and Cairns in a bid to crackdown on youth crime under a plan by the LNP.
A night curfew would be trialled in Townsville and Cairns in a bid to crackdown on youth crime under a rehashed plan by the Liberal National Party.
Speaking in the state’s most marginal seat of Townsville today, Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington with local candidates announced laws would be introduced to impose a curfew of 8pm for kids aged 14 and younger.
For youths aged 15 to 17, it would be 10pm.
A curfew was central to the LNP’s proposed crackdown on youth crime at the 2017 election, with former Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls committing to a six-month trial of a curfew for children under 16 roaming the streets after 10pm.
Under the new plan, police would have the power to take a youth to a community refuge and would be held there until a parent or a social worker can pick them up.
Parents will also cop a $250 fine if their child is found on the streets without a reasonable excuse and could face multiple fines if they have several children found out after the curfew.
“This is about making sure that parents become responsible for their children,” Ms Frecklington said.
“In fact everyone in our community must be responsible for the crime problem that we have here in Townsville.
“We’ve got to give police the powers that they need.”
Ms Frecklington said police would use “common sense” to determine whether a youth needs to be taken to a refuge.
“The police here in Townsville know who these youths are, they know the youths are laughing in the face of the police officers, they are laughing in the face of the government because Labor are soft on crime,” she said.
“Common sense will prevail.
“If the child is naturally doing the right thing and they are on their way home, then naturally they will be allowed to go home.”
Crime has dominated the election across the three Townsville seats, with both the major and minor parties having announced a raft of policies to curb young offending.
Townsville is held by Labor’s Scott Stewart by just 0.38 per cent, making it Labor’s most marginal seat.
But Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk slammed Ms Frecklington, accusing her of not knowing how her own policy would work.
Ms Palaszczuk would not say whether or not she supported the idea of a youth curfew, or whether it would unfairly target Aboriginal kids.
“My understanding is she couldn’t even explain how it was going to work, it doesn’t really cut the mustard does it?” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“In all honesty, she didn’t come to north Queensland with a plan for jobs, that’s the number one issue here, the number one issue is jobs in regional Queensland.”
“She hasn’t explained how it works. Are the police staying there (at the youth refuges)? Everyone deserves to be safe in their own home, but in all honesty, we’re putting more police. Our commitment to the people of the north is more police out there on the streets, doing their job, keeping Townsville and surrounding areas of the north safe.”
Ms Palaszczuk said Labor had announced 150 new police in north Queensland, compared to the LNP’s 70.
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