Let us be very clear, the former Labor government had 10 years to address the sentencing of sexual assault and rape in Queensland. A decade in power, a decade of opportunity, a decade where they could have delivered meaningful reform for survivors and what did they do? They referred the matter to the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council near the end of their term. That is it; nothing else.
No legislation, no action, no urgency, no justice.
That council then produced a report titled Sentencing of Sexual Assault and Rape: the ripple effect. It is a powerful, important piece of work and it gives voice to survivors. It gives insight into their pain, the trauma and the long-term impacts of those horrific crimes. But let us not pretend that it was Labor that pushed through real change. Let us not pretend that they acted decisively or stood up for victims when it mattered.
Let us not forget the Labor DNA debacle—one of the greatest failures in relation to rape victims in Australia with more than 40,000 cases left in limbo. They only care about who takes credit. They do not care about victims.
We are just months into office, we are months into progressing meaningful action on this issue. While Labor sat on their hands for a decade, we got to work in our first few months, calmly, methodically, responsibly because that is what leadership looks like. Queenslanders do not just want a government that acknowledges problems, they want a government that fixes them. They want a government that listens, acts and delivers.
In just six months we are picking up the pieces of a decade-long trail of failure and yet those opposite now demand that we clean up their mess in record time as if they were not the very people who created it.
They act like they have just arrived in this chamber, that these problems facing Queenslanders today have nothing to do with their time in government. Queenslanders are not fools.
The Labor Party presided over the youth crime crisis, they presided over the Queensland Health crisis, the cost-of-living crisis, the housing crisis and now we can add to that list the failure to act on the sentencing for sexual assault and rape.
This is just another Labor legacy that the LNP government is cleaning up. While the Labor opposition now seeks to reinvent themselves as advocates for vulnerable Queenslanders—the same vulnerable Queenslanders they failed time and time again—their record in this House tells a very different story.
They can try to rebrand themselves but the facts speak louder than their spin. We will not be lectured to by a party that spent a decade defending criminals instead of victims.
I take a moment to reflect on something that we cannot ignore. While we are debating legislation about character references in court, we should also remember some of the character references that have been made right here in this chamber. The hypocrisy is staggering. The very people who now claim to be champions of vulnerable Queenslanders stood in this House and used their positions to defend one of their own, despite serious allegations yet today they stand here pretending to hold the moral high ground.
Queenslanders deserve better. They deserve consistency, they deserve compassion and they deserve a government that does not just talk about change but actually delivers it. Under the LNP that is exactly what Queenslanders are getting. We are working through these issues with care, clarity and purpose. We are committed to reforming sentencing laws to ensure that the voices of victims are not just heard but also carry weight. We are restoring confidence in our justice system, we are restoring accountability and, most importantly, we are restoring the public’s faith in a government that actually works for them.
Queenslanders elected us to clean up Labor’s mess and that is exactly what we are doing. We will not be distracted, we will not be deterred and we will not stop until Queensland is safer, stronger and fairer for every person who calls it home.
