Six months on from Toowoomba man Robert Brown’s death government quietly publishes promised youth crime data

Robert Brown’s friend has called out the Palaszczuk government to make good on promises made in the wake of the beloved photographer’s death.

Six months ago avid photographer Robert Brown was allegedly robbed and attacked in a callous broad daylight assault outside Grand Central Shopping Centre after he had just bought a Valentine’s Day card.

Days later, the 75-year-old – who was loved by many in the community and was described as gentle – died of the injuries he suffered in the February 6 alleged robbery.

It was a crime that horrified the Toowoomba community and sparked the Queensland-wide Enough Is Enough youth crime campaign that demanded the state government make the spiralling juvenile justice issue a top priority.

Within weeks, the campaign successfully got Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her government as well as the Opposition to pledge to biannually publish youth crime data against several expert-backed Key Peformance Indicators to track the crisis.

Photographer Robert Brown at the Toowoomba Royal Show. Sunday, March 27, 2022. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Despite the state government’s pledge to crack down on the youth crime offending back in February in response to Enough Is Enough, new figures show how the key metrics experts said would lead to a reduction in youth crime are actually getting worse.

Now Mr Brown’s friend and Photographic Society of Queensland life member Tryg Helander is calling out Premier Palaszczuk to make good on the promises made to make a difference in youth crime numbers.

The KPIs the government pledged to track and publish include the rate of youth reoffending, Indigenous young people in detention, and the proportion of serious repeat offenders.

The data has been quietly uploaded to a government website.

“We need to keep them honest,” Mr Helander said.

“They made grand promises, and we need to hold them to it because the community has had enough.”

Toowoomba Photographic Society life member Tryg Helander remembers his friend and fellow life member Robert Brown who was killed at a Grand Central taxi rank, Monday, August 21, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Worsening crime rates

While crime rates in the Garden City have improved in the past several months since the Queensland government rolled out a raft of new programs in the wake of Mr Brown’s death, the state statistics show the juvenile justice problem is only worsening.

Queensland has the highest youth recidivism rate of any other state or territory – with a Productivity Report released in January showing more than 56 per cent of youth offenders released from supervision were re-sentenced for new offences within 12 months.

Under the new laws introduced in March – declaring certain offenders as “serious repeat offenders” meaning tougher sentencing principles to protect community safety – 27 Queenslanders now fall into that category.

The report revealed have also been 42 young people charged in the past six months after boasting about their crimes on social media.

The demand from experts for the government to track the key metrics in February came as the state government faced significant pressure to tackle the spiralling youth crime crisis in the wake of several tragic incidents.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk addresses media at the Toowoomba Police station, Friday, February 24, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

That same month Premier Palaszczuk introduced her “10-point-plan”, which included returning breach of bail, the strengthening of conditional release orders and more than $100m for additional youth programs.

Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer – who was sworn back into the portfolio during the Premier’s reshuffle in May after previous minister Leanne Linard was dumped – said there was “no quick solution” to tackling Queensland’s youth justice crisis.

“We make no apologies for holding serious repeat offenders to account and putting measures in place to tackle the complex causes of crime,” she said.

“Programs are continually evaluated and we constantly engage with experts because this is not an area where we can ever rest.”

Ms Farmer said programs which were “backed by investment” offered the best chance of breaking the damaging cycle of crime in which some young criminals found themselves.

Toowoomba youth crime co-responder team leader Brooke Sanders (left) speaks with Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer and Acting Assistant Commissioner George Marchesini about the rollout of the youth crime co-responder program, Saturday, May 20, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Police Minister Mark Ryan claimed the introduction of high visibility patrols had seen “noticeable reductions in crime”, and that the state flying squad had been “successfully targeting young offenders”.

“Police do a terrific job in working with young people to stop crime before it happens and making sure those who do commit crime can be brought before the courts to face the consequences of their actions,” he said.

Cautiously optimistic

Toowoomba resident and Voice for Victims founder Ken Cunliffe said he was cautiously optimistic about the government’s plan and warned against the politicisation of the youth crime crisis.

“It’s absolutely vital that all sides of politics come together for the better good,” he said.

“Politics can erode the message of what we are trying to achieve. All we really want is a safer community where fewer kids are being recruited into crime.

“You will always have those who are going down that path anyway and they need to be dealt with properly by the system.”

The business owner has agreed to be part of the Palaszczuk government’s Youth Justice Strategy Reference Group.

“I think the Labor government has listened to us,” he said.

“There will always be an ongoing discussion, and I think every little bit counts and is really really important, and we have to celebrate the small things in life.

Ken Cunliffe of Voice of Victims, a recently formed Toowoomba victims of crime advocacy group, Wednesday, February 8, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“One thing I have learnt on this journey is, if you ask 1000 people what the solution for this is, you will get 1000 completely different answers.

“But you have to tread the middle ground.”

He said from his perspective, measures such as the inquiry into supporting victims of crime had broadly helped, however progress of the complex and emotional issue was hard to quantitate.

“I think the level of violence has increased, which is tragic. There have been some horrendous cases in the past six months,” he noted.

“But we need to be optimistic. We need to keep prodding away at this as there is an enormous amount of work that needs to be done.

“We need smaller detention centres within the community rather than these mega facilities.

“They also need to address the front end of crime.

“I just want to see a better result for all victims and quite honestly a better result for offenders.

“If we can see some of those offenders pulled back from the brink and leading positive and productive lives, that would be a very good thing.”

Fears remain in the community

Mr Helander said the community, especially seniors, were still reeling from Mr Brown’s death and were scared to walk the streets during the day.

“It really hurt us to the core,” he said.

“The youth crime plague is really changing how people live in their community because they don’t feel safe at all.

“There needs to be a strong message that says you can’t just walk along and harm our senior citizens.”

The crime scene at Grand Central Toowoomba when Mr Brown was critically injured during an alleged robbery on February 6, 2023. Picture: Peta McEachern

The ex-soldier said he himself was scared when walking the streets of Toowoomba, and feared if young recidivist offenders remained in the community, community members would start fighting back.

“I don’t want to say the community will do bad things but you will start seeing small militia groups walking around the streets,” he said.

“It’s happening elsewhere, and I think it will inevitably happen here because these kids are running around with machetes, for God’s sake.

“I’ve been in five war zones and taken people at gunpoint … but now I feel vulnerable, I’m scared when I see three teenagers walking towards me because I have no idea what they are capable of.”

Mr Helander said Robert was a gentle giant who would sit down in the middle of the street and talk to strangers.

“He was such a sweetly softly spoken person … and was always an absolute gentleman and a sweetheart,” he said.

“He did so much for the community and I think that’s why it makes me so angry … and someone in the community that people genuinely liked.”