Opposition says youth crime laws have ‘crumbled’
Confusion surrounds the Palaszczuk Government’s commitment to lengthen penalties for violent juvenile car thieves, with the Opposition claiming young offenders will only serve a fraction of what the Premier has promised.
Queensland member for Burdekin Dale Last (AAP Image/Jono Searle)
In the heat of an escalating youth crime crisis over summer in the days after an horrific home invasion by two teenagers left a woman dead, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk released a 10-point plan promising a tougher response to youth crime.
The initial response on December 29 foreshadowed the government’s legislation that has been debated in Parliament since February seeking to overhaul how young offenders are treated in the state’s criminal justice system.
Among the promises Palaszczuk made was tougher penalties for violent juvenile car thieves by increasing sentencing terms to from a maximum of five years to 14 years.
Opposition police spokesman Dale Last said that by its own admission in Parliament, the government would be unable to uphold that commitment.
“The youth crime laws have crumbled on the floor of Parliament,” he said in a statement today.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government has now backtracked on their promise, after it was revealed and confirmed Labor’s new laws would not override section 175 of the Youth Justice Act.”
Under Section 175, juvenile criminals can only be imprisoned to a maximum of one year before a magistrate or a maximum of five years before a judge.
In serious cases, young people can only be sentenced to half of the maximum sentence applied to adults.
Last said the promise Palaszczuk made to Queenslanders in “black and white” had been exposed as a “blatant lie”.
“These weak laws have crumbled under the bright glare of Parliament and simply do not stand up to scrutiny,” Last said.
“Once again, the Premier is all about the announcement, without any concern about the detail or delivering her promise.”
Police Minister Mark Ryan refuted the Opposition’s interpretation, telling reporters during a press conference that maximum penalties with the criminal code would increase under the government proposed reforms.
“We’re doing what we said we would do,” he said.
Ryan said if the Opposition were so concerned about the apparent oversight, the time to raise it would have been in their proposed amendments to the bill tabled in Parliament yesterday.
“But they have not,” he said.
“They’re just going for the soundbite again, making it up as they go along.”
