Thank you, Robbie Katter.

The leader of Katter’s Australia Party has offered a sober and workable plan to help both victims and youth perpetrators, and he deserves more than a smirk and a wink from the government.

Under Katter’s plan, repeat youth offenders would be sent to mandatory outback detention camps where they are housed and sent to school, and encouraged to develop skills that could give them a fighting chance to move forward as law-abiding adults.

And with more than 85 percent of the state’s most serious young criminals reoffending within a year, that is a fabulous goal.

But it’s more than that; this isn’t a brain snap. It has been discussed with Indigenous communities, and the proposed relocation plan includes the parameters around which it would work.

It also has the support of senior police and criminologists.

So why is it likely to be ignored?

Because crime, a year out from a State election, is a political football, and no party in power wants to admit – with the whole public service at its disposal – it is bereft of a solution. And heaven forbid that credit for an idea goes to some other political party or MP.

So watch the criticism that will sneak into the pubic narrative over the next few days; it’s already started on ‘background’ to journalists.

1. It’s “too expensive’’. Wrong. The Katter Australia Party included broad costs – and it would be a safe bet to say it is millions cheaper than the crime now enveloping our suburbs. And a pittance compared to the $500 million plan to build new teen detention centres.

2. It’s a form of the ‘stolen generation’, moving youth – especially Indigenous – without their permission to a ‘camp’ in the middle of nowhere.

Wrong. Ask the Indigenous elders canvassed by the idea’s proponents, who say it draws inspiration from Aboriginal banishment practices.

3. “He wants a form of 18th Century transportation – it’s ludicrous’’.

That’s an obvious reference to the flood of convicts – 162,000 to be precise – that were transported to Australia between 1788 and 1868; many for tiny crimes.

Fact. It’s not. We are talking about the same country; indeed the same state. And just as an aside, most convicts – including the families of many Queenslanders who were ‘sentenced’ to Australia for stealing a loaf of bread – stayed on and became successful settlers.

And youth sent to outback camps would be taught trades and business and leadership skills; perhaps given the chance life has not offered previously.

This issue should not be a political issue. It’s about safety, and valuing our elderly and those who live alone. It’s about our teens being able to go out and enjoy life in the Valley on a Friday night.

It’s about those who gathered to rally yesterday, and those who didn’t. It’s about all of us, irrespective of our vote.

And Annastacia Palaszczuk should be sitting down with Robbie Katter today, to learn more about it – not ramming through amendments to legislation without debate, consideration of the consequences or likelihood of succeeding.

Every day now, new evidence pops up that shows how crime, and how it is dealt with, treats us all as fools.

This week’s example? A motorist accused of deliberately hitting pedestrians in carparks, allegedly causing serious injury, was granted bail. Meanwhile, on the same day a child predator in the US was jailed for 540 years.

You read that correctly. 540 years.

So yes, we can stop blaming judges too, and look at what penalties they are able to impose – and perhaps legislate accordingly to broaden their severity.

Perhaps our government MPs should leave their posh Parliamentary offices, and have open dialogue in their communities. Or even log onto their neighbourhood Facebook pages.

If they did, they’d see how police are now simply asking those calling to report an attempted break-in to upload a report – and CCTV video if they have it too!

Meanwhile more than 30 police officers are dispatched to protect a small group of military veterans on a commemorative march down Adelaide Street, in broad daylight.

Police, in declining numbers, are doing the best they can. So are citizens, who are locking up and even putting in their own money towards hiring security for night patrols.

This should not happen in Queensland, Australia. And it is now an issue of leadership.

Robbie Katter this week showed it. Please Premier, for the sake of Queenslanders, listen to him.

It might also mean you keep your job, next October.