Offence rates head higher

Stats show crime surge under ALP

TOWNSVILLE’S crime problem has dominated headlines amid the 2020 Queensland election race with the two major parties peddling either a “tough on crime” mantra or a “proven record” badge of honour.

Both major parties have statistics to prove their case each time the region’s crime rate rears its head.

But a comparison between the crime rate per 100,000 people across four offence types — drugs, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, unlawful entry and what Queensland Police call ‘other thefts’ which includes stealing from a dwelling, shop and stealing vehicles — has revealed there was an increase in crime overall between 2014 and 2017.

The breakdown of Queensland Police Service statistics found that crime rates in all four offence types had worsened during Labor’s term in government.

When comparing Campbell Newman’s final year in government (2014) to Annastacia Palaszczuk’s first year of her second term (2017), there was a 34 per cent increase in overall crime.

Across the four crime categories there were 393 offences per 100,000 people in 2014 and 530 offences per 100,000 people in 2017. Statistics revealed that when comparing 2014 and 2017 for offences per 100,000 people, the crime rate in all four offence types increased.

But the biggest increase came in drug offences, which increased dramatically from 142 offences to 205, a rise of more than 40 per cent.

All three other major offence types also rose including unlawful use of a motor vehicle (21 v 30), unlawful entry (74 v 101) and other thefts (186 v 194). The data shows offence rate, not conviction rate.

The Townsville Bulletin compared a calendar year from both the Newman and Palaszczuk eras in an attempt to put to rest the back-and-forth over statistical increases between the major parties.

The Bulletin reviewed data from a calendar year to ensure the ebb and flow of crime in Townsville was accurately depicted. Statistics from both 2014 and 2017 reflected there an increase in crime over the Christmas holidays.

The Bulletin also opted not to include dates from the last year of Ms Palaszczuk’s second term due to the uncertainty of that data during the 2019 monsoonal event. Using data per 100,000 people ensured the statistics were not skewed based on North Queensland’s population.

At the 2011 census there were 174,462 people living in the Townsville local government area, in 2016 there were 186,757, and now there are approximately 193,601. Census data for all North Queensland towns was not available.

The raw offence data shows a significant increase across all four offences types under the period of the Labor government, but does not account for population growth.