LNP won’t back away from stemming youth crime epidemic

THE LNP makes no apologies for its plan to crack down on youth crime in Townsville.

To address a problem, you of course must admit to it – something State Labor has failed to do.

I travelled to Townsville more than 20 times over the past year and each time the major concerns raised with me is the youth crime epidemic.

Townsville residents tell me they want strong laws so they can reclaim their city. They are sick of this Labor government putting the interests of young criminals ahead of their own safety, and that of their families.

In designing our recently announced youth crime policy, we listened to the community and received valuable feedback from our police officers, prison officers, community stakeholders and you, the victims.

We believe our policy strikes the correct balance – cracking down on youth crime but with an emphasis on personal responsibility.

A key aspect will be ensuring these young criminals are made to repay the community for their crimes through minimum mandatory community service for offences such as unlawful entry, car theft and hooning.

This week we once again saw seven teenagers treating the Townsville community with disdain.

The teens, including two aged 13, allegedly stole a car from Mundingburra on Sunday at 11.30pm and went on a joy ride through the city streets and crashing into a parked vehicle.

Unfortunately for Townsville residents, Labor’s failed policies have re- sulted in a revolving door of justice where juveniles run riot on Townsville streets with impunity.

To combat this revolving door, the LNP will introduce breach of bail as an offence for young offenders.

The LNP will also remove the principle of detention as a last resort for repeat young offenders after their second offence and allow courts to name and shame after a third offence.

The LNP will also enable courts to restrict a young person’s eligibility for a drivers’ licence. At the same time the LNP announced it will introduce tough reforms, Labor was caught out over their secret plan to build suburban “frat houses” to house young criminals.

Letting young criminals out of detention to ease overcrowding is clearly not the answer. It’s just another soft- on- crime Labor policy to manage an issue that has been left unchecked by a do- nothing government.

TIM NICHOLLS, Queensland Liberal National

Party Leader.