Clare Stewart LNP candidate for Noosa
Late last year LNP leader David Crisafulli and I listened to a group of Noosa locals share their harrowing experiences with youth crime.
We heard about home invasions, stolen cars, assaults, violence, and threats of violence. Couples, families, kids all put at risk by brazen criminals.
Experiences like these are happening day and night, all over Queensland, because the Youth Crime Crisis touches all corners of our state.
Despite this, last week the Labor Government sacked the bipartisan youth crime committee, chaired by the Member for Noosa, Sandy Bolton.
The committee was supposed to go until October and deliver recommendations to address youth crime.
Instead, even before the committee had the chance to complete the report and fully investigate clear recommendations, Sandy Bolton declared her position as chair had become untenable and the Labor Government dissolved the committee.
Labor was clearly worried about what it might discover and report – exposing failures on crime ahead of the election.
The LNP Committee members were committed to working toward genuine crime solutions for Queensland.
The LNP members voted to extend the timeframe by one week to complete the interim report – but it didn’t suit Labor’s agenda so instead they shut it down. There was still opportunity to work through the issues and instead Labor gave up.
The committee was only halfway through the report, it is still incomplete and there was much more work to be done. The LNP were open to continuing that work.
How many more victims of crime will there be because of this shutdown?
This tired, out-of-touch Labor Government thought the solution to controlling youth crime was controlling the media, recommending “the Queensland government looks at the impact of media reporting on crime”.
This is offensive to all the victims who bravely spoke at the committee hearings, it is offensive to people who have had their businesses destroyed, their homes invaded, and their cars stolen.
The LNP recommended “removing detention as a last resort”, so there would be consequences for actions, but Labor blocked it.
The LNP has unashamedly stood with victims here in Noosa and across Queensland because the victims of crime must be heard.
Victims of crime bravely speak out for one reason only. They tell their stories like a cry for help to a government that isn’t listening. They do it to prevent further suffering and heartbreak.
Make no mistake, the Palaszczuk-Miles Labor Government’s weak laws and fewer police created Queensland’s Youth Crime Crisis.
What’s now clear is the only way to fix the Youth Crime Crisis, the only way to get change, is to elect the LNP in October.
Our community, and our state, deserve outcomes.
The LNP will continue to give victims a voice and will roll-out the Making Queensland Safer Laws that Queenslanders have been calling for, if elected in October.
