Do we believe Labor?
WITH the state election less than eight months away, the Palaszczuk Government is telling the people of Townsville that Labor will fix Townsville’s escalating juvenile crime problem.
Do you believe them?
The change in recent rhetoric is significant. Suspended are the false claims that Labor has successfully dealt with juvenile crime, Labor is the one with the right policies, that the Youth Justice Act is working, Bail Houses are working, that holding juveniles in detention is counter-productive etc.
Now Labor is promising to listen to the Townsville community and take action to hold juvenile criminals accountable.
They are now making very tough statements and threatening all sorts of action against juvenile criminals.
Gone are the oft repeated statements such as “Evidence shows that by placing young offenders in detention, they are more likely to re-offend”.
Now the Police Minister thunders that he will make young offenders “sleep on the floor” of overcrowded detention centres.
Remember in December 2018 when I and others had written letters re the escalating juvenile crime. Aaron Harper’s response was that we and the Townsville Bulletin were ill-informed.
Mr Harper claimed that the Palaszczuk Government was successful in reducing the juvenile crime rate in Townsville. Mr Harper’s claims were wrong then and they are wrong today.
In his letter Mr Harper cited that the former police commissioner Bob Atkinson OA APM had released his report on a future Youth Justice Strategy and this report would bring about real change.
The Atkinson Report made 77 recommendations. None have been declined by the Palaszczuk Government.
Recommendations include: •Legislating that 10-11-yearolds should not be remanded in custody or detained except for very serious crime.
The Palaszczuk Government supports increasing the age of criminal responsibility from 10 years to 12 years.
Under this proposal no child before their 13th birthday can be arrested, charged or convicted of a crime.
• The number of indigenous children in detention be no higher than non-indigenous children. The report noted that the average of indigenous juveniles in detention was 69 per cent. The Palaszczuk Government committed to reducing this “over-representation”.
Note that there is no commitment to reducing the actual rate of crimes committed by indigenous juveniles. The commitment is to reduce the over-representation in detention.
• Police be supported in exercising discretion not to prosecute. The Government committed to train police to use diversion options in lieu of charging and detaining juvenile offenders.
• To the greatest extent possible, bail support services are available to keep children in the community, instead of remanded in custody. The Palaszczuk Government accepted and implemented this recommendation in early 2019.
If Labor is returned to government, will all Bob Atkinson’s recommendations be implemented? Will we again be told that putting juveniles in detention is counter-productive?
Over the coming eight months the people of Townsville will hear much from our three local amigos, Premier
Palaszczuk and government ministers about their “commitment” to reducing juvenile crime.
Will you believe what they say in the lead-up to the election or what has actually happened over the past five years?
BARRY LOWE,
Townsville.