“I congratulate Bruce
and Denise Morcombe OAM for being named 2020 Queensland Greats,” Mr Purdie said
today.
“Their relentless fight for child safety has been instrumental in better
educating parents and school children about stranger danger across the country.
“Media reports today of Bruce Morcombe criticising state and territory leaders
for refusing to establish a national public register for child sex offenders is
absolutely warranted.
“The Federal Government provided $7.8 million over four years in last year’s
budget for the states and territories to set up the register but there has been
little progress.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk has failed to show leadership and has repeatedly baulked
at the concept.
“Only the LNP is committed to establishing a public child sex offender
register, so parents know if someone poses a danger to their children, in their
street or in their suburb.
“As a former detective working in the children protection unit for Queensland
Police for more than 20 years, tougher and responsible laws are needed to
protect kids and empower parents.”
Mr Bennett said the
LNP had committed to major child-safety reforms* to deliver a new public child
sex offender register.
“The only way a child sex offender registry will be delivered in Queensland is
to change the government.
“Protecting children is more important than protecting the privacy of
paedophiles.
“We must do everything to keep our kids safe and
stop sexual predators from preying on them.
“Queenslanders have the right to this information, but the Palaszczuk Labor
Government says no.”
*The LNP’s plan would provide parents with access to three tiers of information on sex offenders:
Missing Offenders’ Register – Photos and personal details of offenders who fail to report to police and whose whereabouts are unknown will be published online for access by the public.
Local Offender Search – Parents will be able to search their suburb and adjacent suburbs to view photographs of child sex offenders living in their community. Importantly, anyone accessing this information will face a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment if they harass a listed offender or distribute their photograph or personal details.
Community Protection Disclosure Scheme – Parents or guardians will be able to apply to the police to inquire if a person who has regular, unsupervised contact with their child is a reportable sex offender. Anyone who uses false information to request a disclosure or misuses information provided by police could face seven years’ imprisonment.