Premier Steven Miles accused the LNP of putting political interests before community safety in persistently blocking the release of a draft Youth Justice Committee report which he said led last week to the dissolution by the House of the bipartisan committee and the release of the report which is now publicly available.
Speaking in Parliament last week Mr Miles applauded committee chair Independent Noosa MP Sandy Bolton for her work on the committee and efforts to release the interim report which contains about 60 recommendations on reforms to the youth justice system and support for victims of crime.
In response to a question in Parliament from Opposition Leader David Crisafulli as to whether the Labor Government voted to dissolve the youth justice committee because it didn’t want to remove ‘detention as last resort’ after reinstating it in 2016, Mr Miles said the action the government took was in response to continued blocking of the committee’s determination to release the report.
“This committee was created with a laudable goal that perhaps there was the slimmest of chances, LNP would put its political interests aside and prioritise the safety of Queenslanders, but it could not,” he said.
“On this side of the house keeping the community safe was a priority, on that side of the house all they care about is themselves and their political interest.
“I want to see the committee’s report released. We will consider that report and we will implement recommendations from that report and incorporate them into our comprehensive community safety plan.
“Can I acknowledge the role of the Member for Noosa. She did a commendable job under trying circumstances.
“She tried her best to deliver a committee report informed by committee hearings and people who had appeared before them.
“We had to act to see that report.”
In a second question Mr Crisafulli said the Youth Justice committee was supposed to run until October. “When the committee heard from victims, harrowing stories were heard by the media. Did the government dissolve the committee because it didn’t want victims of crime in the media before the election?” he asked.
After the Leader of the House Mick De Brenni corrected him, saying “the house dissolved the committee, not the government”, Mr Miles replied “no”.
“The select committed was supposed to be bipartisan, it was designed to find proposals that could be agreed across the political divide and those opposite could not even allow them to report.
Mr Miles said the committee was due to report at the end of March, but LNP objections had blocked its release.
“The committee was repeatedly vetoed from telling Queenslanders what they had heard in their hearings and what actions they thought should be taken,” he said.
“I want to see the report of the committee. I know they worked hard. I know the Member for Noosa worked hard in the face of very difficult treatment by those opposite. All I want is to see their report so we can consider their report and start implementing recommendations
“I make this undertaking, when we get the report, we will consider it properly and start implementing recommendations. That’s what the intention of the committee always was, to get their committee report on 28 March and incorporate it into the plan for community safety.
“The only refusal that occurred was the refusal of LNP to release the report.
“We acted to ensure that Queenslanders and Parliament could see their report.”
