LNP to hitch its hopes on crime plan
OPPOSITION leader David Crisafulli has spoken candidly about his plans to tackle youth crime ahead of next year’s state election.
The LNP leader has made an “iron-clad” commitment to have candidates in the field for seats in Townsville, Thuringowa and Mundingburra early this year ahead of the state election slated in October 2024.
It comes after the LNP opened preselection in January for the marginal seat of Thuringowa held by Labor’s Aaron Harper.
“Ahead of the next election, earlier than people have ever seen, we are going to roll out candidates in this city, and they will not be nodding donkeys,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“They will be fighters. They will be people who live and bleed for this place.”
Mundingburra MP Les Walker said he has and will continue to be vocal about responding to all local issues including youth crime.
“I never take my position as the member for Mundingburra for granted unlike the leader of the opposition who left his seat and the city as soon as he lost the 2015 election,” he said.
Mr Crisafulli also foreshadowed the LNP’s policy on youth crime while capping off his four-day trip to Townsville on Friday.
“There’s over a year and a half until the next election, and we will go to the people with what will be the most comprehensive youth justice framework they’ve seen,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“At the moment, we’re going to make sure we do a couple of things, one is responsibly looking at the government and what they’re putting forward and pointing out what we think will work
and what won’t. At the centrepiece of what we want is consequences for actions, removing detention as a last resort and gold standard early intervention.”
While Mr Crisafulli would not directly say if the LNP would consider expanding police powers, he said they were consulting with police on the front line and the police union to form a “very strong” policy platform to
curb crime. (We want) more police on the ground, and we’re happy to be open-minded about what that looks like, but it starts with more police and giving them the tools to do their job,” he said.
“If they’re arresting the same people committing the same crime, only ripping a different family apart, you would question how frustrating that must be for a police officer.
“We are going to get serious
about doing something about this.
“But we also have to focus on early intervention. I want to be clear that I’m not just focusing on one side of this, it’s got to be both.”
Police Minister Mark Ryan said the government was investing in increasing police numbers around the state, with more than 300 recruits at the Townsville Police Academy.