Today I want to speak about the crime crisis that is plaguing Cairns.
I want to share why Far North Queenslanders want tougher laws and why the second tranche of the Making Queensland Safer Laws is critical to reducing the revolving door of activity in our region.
Crime impacts the Far North Queensland community daily. My community is hurting, my community loudly shares this pain and my community has been begging for things to change. These pleas fell on deaf ears with the previous Labor government and, unlike those opposite, our government is listening and acting and delivering for Queensland.
In the short six months I have spent in this chamber, I have spoken many times about crime impacting Cairns as it is the biggest issue hurting our region. During the election, we said we would put the first tranche through before Christmas and we did exactly that. Our next step was to seek advice from an expert legal panel and I strongly support the inclusion of the additional 20 offences as recommended.
In September last year, the member for Cairns said that crime was down 11½ per cent under this government and that, unlike the LNP, he did not think we should be locking up kids. A decade ago the member for Cairns voted for detention to be a last resort and that is why Cairns has a crime epidemic.
The four Labor members ignored the youth crime crisis. They did not believe that youth who commit crimes should be punished or locked up. They believed that detention should be a last resort, that youth criminals are the victims and that the residents of Cairns who are impacted by youth criminals do not matter. Thankfully, our region now has three new members of parliament to represent them. The member for Cook, the member for Mulgrave and I will work hard every day to put the rights of victims ahead of the rights of criminals.
I support this second tranche of the Making Queensland Safer Laws not only as the member for Barron River but also on behalf of the small business community, which is suffering. Many have experienced theft, vandalism and safety concerns for their staff and patrons. To those businesses that have closed down due to the continuing window repair bills that exceeded their monthly rent bills, these new legislative changes, including vandalism, are for you.
I support these additions on behalf of the countless victims of crime, many of whom are still suffering emotionally, financially and mentally from what happened to them. Many of them are now without a car to get to work. Many of them have lost family heirlooms. Many of them have lost loved ones. Many hearts are broken because justice was not served.
Under these laws, youth who commit adult crime offences will face the same consequences as adults. We still have a long way to go, but rest assured that this side of the parliament will continue to take steps to make laws tougher until we see victim numbers decreasing. For 10 years, detention was a last resort, breach of bail was decriminalised and the rights of offenders were elevated above the rights of victims. The result? A decade of chaos and a youth crime crisis.
I want to thank the Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee for their hard work and for holding a hearing in Cairns. I would like to share some of the heartbreaking stories that the committee heard.
In 2023, a 48-year-old Cairns father was chased and pushed into the path of an oncoming car, causing his death. The 16-year-old responsible was sentenced to four years jail with parole after serving only 28 months. Had our Making Queensland Safer Laws been in place, that person would have faced much harsher penalties.
Another local, 72-year-old Marie Violo, was punched with knuckledusters by a youth offender who was leaving her shop. Marie suffered bruising, a seven-millimetre hematoma and ongoing emotional trauma. What was the punishment received under the former government? Forty hours of community service with no conviction recorded!
Under Adult Crime, Adult Time those youth would be facing much harsher penalties. By further strengthening our laws we can move forward, restoring safety to our great state.
However, the elephant in the room needs to be addressed.
How have those youth been allowed to do this for so long?
How have our most vulnerable children been led down this path of crime?
How has the residential care system failed, being little more than crime-creating homes?
Under the failed former government sitting opposite, thousands of vulnerable children have been left to languish in a system that has failed them and, in turn, caused insurmountable pain for many Far North Queenslanders. Right now in Queensland, more than 100 of the state’s most serious young offenders are living in out-of-home care. They are not just kids who have made a mistake; they are repeat offenders who are responsible for 55 per cent of all youth crime in our state. In far too many cases, we are seeing kids raised by the state in an environment that produces criminals.
It hurts me to share these statistics today and to know that many of those children are living in residential care in Cairns as I speak: 72 per cent of young offenders in out-of-home-care have been
suspended or excluded from school, 56 per cent have self-harmed, 40 per cent have attempted suicide and 70 per cent live with a diagnosed or suspected disability. That is why adult crime must come with adult consequences but never without adult responsibility and our collective responsibility. These children have been let down by the system, by the state and by the organisations that were supposed to care for them. They have ended up off the rails, turning to a life of crime.
That is why we are investing in the Regional Reset and Staying on Track programs, which are key pillars of the Crisafulli government’s plan to make our communities safer. We are investing
$175 million in the Staying on Track program that will deliver 12-month post detention rehabilitation, including at least six months intensive support to reintegrate them into the community and prevent them from falling into the cycle of repeat youth crime.
Those opposite had a window of only 72 hours of care once the youth left detention with many reoffending, hence the cycle continued. The $50 million Regional Reset program will deliver nine early intervention residential programs and a youth justice school will be located in Far North Queensland to help those youth get the education that they need.
I stand here today not only to support Adult Crime, Adult Time but also to thank our government for introducing the commission of inquiry into child safety in Queensland. We know that locking up a 14-year-old without looking at how they got there and what happens next is just setting them up to fail again. The inquiry will shine a light on the failures that have allowed young people to be passed between care homes and courtrooms like forgotten statistics. The inquiry will trial a secure care facility for the most at-risk children. It will be a therapeutic facility with structure, support, supervision and lots more.
If we do not change the system, we will lose another generation to crime, chaos and despair. The Crisafulli government is determined that that will not happen. We will start with the second tranche and continue with the inquiry.
We will continue to support early intervention, rehabilitation and diversion programs, but not at the cost of community safety and not at the cost of justice for victims.
Before I close, I want to acknowledge a very special person in Far North Queensland, radio announcer Mr John MacKenzie from 4CA FM. John has been on the airways for over 52 years, but he is hanging up his headphones next week. John, thank you for diving deep into the crime issues in our region and for having so many experts on your show. Our city will miss you in our ears and for challenging our thinking. To the victims and communities that have suffered in silence for too long, I say: we hear you, we see you and today we act for you.
I give my full support to this bill.
One Comment