Analysis: Steven Miles misses opportunity on LNP crime policy
Steven Miles could have handed the LNP a rare slapdown, but instead he served up a tap-dancing masterclass, writes state political editor Hayden Johnson.
Opinion
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The state government has squandered a rare opportunity to return fire at the LNP over its radical crime policy.
In pledging to sentence kids as adults for serious crime, Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has put forward one of the harshest and most extreme changes to the Youth Justice Act in a generation.
Instead of a comprehensive slapdown from the state’s Premier and a peppering of the LNP on the lack of detail, Queenslanders witnessed a tap-dancing masterclass.
Just hours after the LNP announced its headline-grabbing “adult crime, adult time” policy, Premier Steven Miles fronted the cameras to awkwardly respond.
He slammed it as a slick four-word slogan, forgetting slogans have helped Mr Crisafulli and the LNP solidify its election-winning lead in the polls.
He didn’t double down on the lack of detail nor question the evidence informing the change.
Privately, ministers are screaming about the Opposition’s “populist” crime announcement – yet their Premier doesn’t appear hungry for the public fight.
For the LNP this announcement is clever politics backed up with little evidence.
When asked about stakeholder consultation, Mr Crisafulli offered no more detail than a less-than-comforting claim he’d spent a lot of time speaking with people across the spectrum.
The truth is, stakeholders are lining up to criticise this policy as nothing more than a cynical vote-buying exercise.
Cleverly and effectively, the LNP is rolling out prominent victims of crime to endorse its “adult crime, adult time” policy.
Those images of grieving husbands, daughters and fathers demanding change craft a perilous position for the government.
If the October election is a referendum on crime Mr Miles will lose.
To have a fighting chance, he must shift the narrative major new cost of living, health and housing announcements.
Throwing in a state-building infrastructure project – with a business case, of course – might create a contest.
Originally published as Analysis: Steven Miles misses opportunity on LNP crime policy
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