Driving bail law change

QUEENSLAND Transport Minister Mark Bailey says the government accepts the state’s youth bail laws need overhauling and the recent deaths of innocent bystanders were “people being in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Mr Bailey said the Palaszczuk government’s No.1 priority was fast-tracking any changes and all options were on the table, with the cabinet meeting on Monday to start the process.

Even the possibility of juvenile offenders being made to wear GPS trackers had been canvassed, although Mr Bailey would not say whether he supported that measure.

“I think there’s no doubt that people have been shocked at the number of instances over the last two weeks, including the last couple of days,” he said.

“A number of people have died, who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“My heart goes out to the family and friends of those who are no longer with us.

“The government absolutely understands the gravity of this issue and we’re working through it thoroughly to have the most effective response that we can.”

The need to urgently review bail laws for youth offenders comes after the death of pedestrians Kate Leadbetter and Matty Field, who, on Australia Day, were struck by a vehicle allegedly driven by a teen on bail. Ms Leadbetter was pregnant with their first child.

On Friday night, Jennifer Board, 22, died when her bike collided head-on with a Statesman sedan believed to be in pursuit of an alleged stolen car in Townsville.

And in late January, several youths were arrested after they allegedly took a stolen car on a dangerous joyride through the streets of Townsville.

“I think the Premier has made it clear that this is No.1 priority for the government, so I look forward to those discussions as a member of the cabinet,” Mr Bailey said.

“The Premier’s indicated there will be announcements over the next week or so and next few days.

“I’m not going to get into individual proposals. Obviously different agencies are putting forward different potential solutions.

“This is not an easy issue. If it was, it would have been solved a long time ago.

“We’ve got to be and very thorough.”

Talk of changes to the youth bail laws overshadowed Mr Bailey’s press conference about southeast Queensland recording the most trips on public transport in a single day since the first COVID measures were introduced in March last year. He said it was a strong sign of economic recovery. There were more than 460,000 trips taken on buses, trains, trams and ferries throughout the southeast last Wednesday, just 27 per cent below the same time last year. effective