Toowoomba youth crime: No consultation with law experts from state government ahead of community forum

Following the tragic death of Robert Brown, government ministers will front hundreds of Toowoomba residents to talk up its reforms. But law experts say they still haven’t been consulted about them.

Toowoomba is grieving the loss of Robert Brown, with the elderly man dying in hospital the same day the Palaszczuk government announced a major youth crime forum to be held in the city.

The 75-year-old Toowoomba man was waiting for a cab at the Margaret St taxi rank about 5.10pm on February 6 when he was allegedly pushed from behind, falling on the road and suffering a critical head injury.

Mr Brown, who has been described by friends and admirers as a gentle and kind man, died from his injuries on Monday.

Toowoomba man Robert Brown has died a week after he was allegedly set upon by four teenagers in the Toowoomba CBD on February 6.

It comes as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced she will send Police Minister Mark Ryan and Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard, along with Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll and other officials, to host a youth crime event at the Empire Theatre’s Armitage Centre on Wednesday night.

The forum, which has been praised as a “good first step” by some locals, is the product of The Chronicle’s “Enough Is Enough” campaign that started after Mr Brown’s assault.

The incident has become a focal point over the youth crime crisis, with new statistics showing a significant increase in the rates of several offences involving young people.

Mr Ryan said along with listening to ideas and concerns from residents, the ministers will use the event to discuss the proposed reforms that were announced last year in a bid to demonstrate the government’s commitment to the issue.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk along with Police Minister Mark Ryan, Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard and Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll announce changes to youth justice laws in Queensland. Brisbane Thursday 29th December 2022 Picture David Clark

“The government will shortly introduce a raft of new legislation to parliament targeting youth offenders, including a requirement that courts must take into account an offender’s history when sentencing,” Mr Ryan said in a statement.

“Young offenders will be in custody on sentence for longer to make sure they can complete requisite rehabilitation and reform programs set out by the courts.”

Other new measures include increased maximum penalties for stealing a car, requiring courts to take into account previous bail history, increase penalties for boasting about crimes on social media, more police and building two new youth detention centres.

While Mr Ryan said the changes had been “widely publicised” Queensland Law Society vice president Rebecca Fogerty said she was the dark about the details of what the government had proposed.

“We have not seen any draft bill and we have not seen any proper consultation,” Ms Fogerty said.

“But what we have seen is a bunch of intentions placed on a website.

“We certainly have a long of history of dealing with youth justice matters and having a voice on youth justice but we have not been consulted and other stakeholders were not consulted.”

Ms Fogerty said while the ‘tough on crime’ approach might satisfy a vigilante desire for punishment, she doubted it would actually reduce the rate of offending.

Instead she called for a whole of government approach.

“That is not to say jail does not have a place in the youth justice system, it does,” Ms Fogerty said.

“But we need to promote justice reinvestment where we divert funds that would be spent on keeping individuals in prison and give them to communities to invest in social services.”

Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts and Toowoomba South MP David Janetzki outside the Empire Theatre.

Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts, who criticised the Premier for declining to attend the forum, said the forum needed to deliver some key outcomes for both the region and Queensland.

“The outcome that we hope to get from this is a reduction in crime, and that’s the objective,” he said.

“What I want to see as an outcome is enough police on the ground to be able to respond in a timely fashion to people who are in distress because of youth crime.

“The second outcome is there is no doubt in my mind that the judiciary needs laws stiffened.

“The most important outcome is (how) we can solve this in the long term, by making sure the whole of government has a systematic approach to ensuring we don’t continue feeding young people into the criminal justice system.”

Toowoomba South MP David Janetzki agreed with his LNP colleague, saying anything less than showcasing the legislation to the community was “lip service”.

“If this isn’t just for show and if they’re serious, they’ll bring the legislation to discuss with the community on Wednesday night,” he said.