Calls for minister to quit
Crime promises ‘not met’
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has called on Police Minister Mark Ryan to follow Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll “out the door”.
Speaking at Pimpama on the Gold Coast, Mr Crisafulli on Tuesday said there was a need for accountability at a political level for what he described as the government’s failure to meet promises on crime.
“Whenever somebody calls time on a career in service you have to acknowledge it and wish her (Ms Carroll) all the best,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“There is a missing piece of the puzzle though, and that is that the minister has been responsible for promises to deliver extra police, and that didn’t eventuate, he sat around the cabinet table and weakened the laws and there’s been no consequences held from that end of the bargain.
“And so if the commissioner has made a decision to walk out the door, someone also has to as well, and that person should be the minister because it’s only fair and proper in a Westminster system, somebody has to be held accountable for promises not being met.
“Those promises were made by politicians, not by police officers, and the reason why police are leaving faster than they can be replaced is because of weaker laws and a broken culture and the minister should be held accountable for that.”
Mr Crisafulli, who was keynote speaker at a Rotary Club of Ormeau-Pimpama event where keys to a new vehicle were handed to local youth support group ESuarve, also took aim at Premier Steven Miles.
“The Child Safety Department is broken, the Resi Care system is broken, and there are fewer police, in fact there are less police than when the government promised to add 1450 extra police,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“So someone’s got to be held accountable for that. The commissioner has made a decision, but at what point will the minister be held accountable, and at what point will the Premier admit his decision in watering down the laws nine years ago was a mistake?”
Asked on Tuesday about calls for his resignation, Mr Ryan defended his record, saying he had been a “fierce advocate” for the Queensland Police Service and that there were “record numbers” at the police academy.
Asked about 2016 changes to the Youth Justice Act, Mr Ryan said he had not been in cabinet at the time.
“I became the Police Minister in November 2016,” Mr Ryan said.
“But nonetheless, as this government always does, we base legislative decisions around the advice of experts, around best research, and what we genuinely believe is in the best interests of Queenslanders.”
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers has claimed some of the revolt by senior officers against Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll had been “because she is a woman”.
Mr Leavers on Wednesday praised the outgoing Commissioner as a “good-natured and caring woman” and claimed “they’ve just taken advantage of it”. It comes as Ms Carroll was forced to sensationally resign early as the state’s top cop to “clear the air” after mounting pressure over Queensland’s youth crime crisis.
Mr Leavers said she been treated unfairly.
“Perhaps if she was a man, she wouldn’t get the attention from these other senior police who won’t do their job,” Mr Leavers said on Channel 9.
“Because she’s a woman, they’re treating her with an absolute contempt and I think that’s absolutely unfair on her had part. I’m just seeing the disconnect and I know what happens behind the scenes. And you look at the Gold Coast and they openly defy things that are required to be done.
“Whoever is the commissioner of police has the ultimate authority and they need to do their job and do as they are told, like every other police officer in the state.
“And I just feeling that is not happening and when we have other police saying ‘there is not a disconnect and we are just a bunch of whingers’ – I say I absolutely reject that lock, stock and barrel. There is a disconnect between senior management and the frontline police.”
When Mr Leavers said “some of the senior police have to start doing their job as well”, he was asked whether there was a sexism issue in the police service. “I’m not saying sexism but I would say this... she is a very good-natured woman, she is a very caring woman and I just think they’ve just taken advantage of it,” Mr Leavers said.