Youth crime Qld: Premier confirms ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ laws to pass

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has doubled down on his incoming “Adult Time Adult Crime” laws and confirmed when they will pass, despite critics saying they will only make the community less safe.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli says his Adult Crime, Adult Time laws will pass before Parliament’s final sitting. Picture: Office of the Premier

• Listed: New ‘adult’ sentences for youths

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has doubled down on his “Adult Time Adult Crime” laws, stating Queenslanders “cannot continue to see what we have over the last decade”.

It comes after the Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall slammed the Premier’s youth crime crackdown on Thursday, claiming it would only make the community less safe.

Speaking to Channel 9’s Today Show, Mr Crisafulli said Queenslanders could expect his youth crime proposal to be law by Christmas.

“It looks like the balance of favour is tipping back in favour of the victim rather than the offender. And that’s what Queenslanders voted for. That’s what we put forward,” he said to Today.

“It’s now going to a committee for a couple of weeks, but it’ll pass before Parliament’s final sitting and not a moment too soon.

“We cannot continue to see what we have over the last decade. Ten years ago, a decision was taken when the former government came into office to weaken the laws.

“The number of victims has risen year on year for a decade. So something must change.

“Adult time will be law by Christmas and we must start doing early intervention and rehabilitation to a level that we’ve never seen in Queensland. So we’ve got a holistic plan right across the spectrum on this.”

Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall slammed the Premier’s youth crime crackdown yesterday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

Asked about Mr McDougall’s comment that the changes would “result in life sentences for children who still have their baby teeth”, Mr Crisafulli said that it is “not just stronger laws but gold standard early intervention”.

“Look, I’ll always listen to anybody’s view. That’s always been my style. But I have to make the point that we’ve listened to victims, we’ve listened to frontline police, we’ve listened to communities that tell us they don’t feel safe anymore,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“We’re not just targeting one side of it. It’s not just stronger laws, it’s also the gold standard for early intervention.

“I will respect that there are different views, but I need Queenslanders to know if I say something on one side of the election, it means something and we are fulfilling exactly what we told the people of Queensland we would.

“We’ve got to turn the tide on this and this is the first step in 10 years to strike back on behalf of the community and victims.”

Originally published as Youth crime Qld: Premier confirms ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ laws to pass