Bail houses love’s lost
IN her letter to Townsvillians ( TB, August 3), Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was so at pains to amplify her deep, undying love for Townsville I half expected her to say she was going to pull up stumps and move here.
“Just what we need,” I thought, “another Labor politician.”
However, I digress.
Premier Palaszczuk listed government projects in progress, including schools, hospitals (when they built the new hospital, why did they build it smaller than its forerunner?), the Bruce Highway (after years of neglect) and the Townsville – Mt Isa rail line (which they criminally failed to maintain for years). Oh yes, we are getting a new footy ground, albeit of smaller capacity than its predecessor.
We are getting another water pipeline to help our non-labor mayor cling to office, while at the same time they are doing everything in their power to delay new dams in the North. What many readers noticed was that Anna seemed to overlook our crime issues.
Difficult to understand, because she said our “three strong and vocal members” were “in her ear” every week. So, either they haven’t raised the crime issue or she finds the members of so little consequence she disregards their advocacy. However, there’s a vast difference between holding a minuted meeting and an informal conversation as they pass in the hallway.
It is incorrect that Premier Palaszczuk has done nothing about crime in Townsville. She sent the Attorney-general (AG), Yvette D’ath to a crime forum here on June 6, 2016. Many residents deeply concerned with crime, along with the usual special interest groups with their hands out for cash, mounted their cases.
At the conclusion, the AG said she would take everything said into consideration when making decisions. One has to admire her ability to say this without laughing, because seven days later the Government abolished all the reforms established by the Newman government, allegedly because they hadn’t worked. No amendments, no tweaking, just back to the old tried and failed procedures.
On the day of the forum I had a spirited conversation with Aaron Harper, MP, when I argued reinstituting old, failed methodology was doomed to fail.
Aaron scornfully remarked, “So all the experts are wrong and Jeff Williams is right.” In my arrogance, I said “Yes.” Well, Aaron, I can only say, “I told you so.” How’s it working out for you?
But wait, there’s more. As things became worse, Anna sent the “Peoples’ Champion”, Major General Stuart Smith (retd) to conduct 12 months of talkfests around Townsville, followed by a report. Being the very model of a modern major general (retd), he produced a report almost mirroring government policy in less than 12 months. Fortuitous for him, because he was immediately given another two government gigs.
And there’s even more. Spending millions of dollars of our hard-earned readies, they came up with bail houses for the kiddie crims.
In reality, they hadn’t foreseen that raising the eligible age to get into grown-up prison they had to move the 17-year-old troublemakers back into juvenile detention centres and retain those already held on remand, or sentenced, for an extra year.
Therefore, they would need more beds (Duhh, who would have thought).
The bail houses are nothing more than overflows for the detention centres, conveniently located within residential areas so the bailees don’t place themselves in danger by crossing the road at night to break, enter and steal from our homes.
And there are cars readily available if they want to visit another town.
So, there it is, Premier Palaszczuk has done a lot about crime.
Unfortunately, it has been illconceived and therefore ineffectual.
Frustratingly, they know what to do and refuse to do it.
On second thoughts Premier, if you love Townsville so much, come and live here and you too can experience the warm fuzzy feeling (not) of knowing that it is not a matter of if your home will be violated but when.
JEFF WILLIAMS,
Condon.