Tuesday 3 March, 2020
The juvenile crime crisis which is gripping communities across Queensland is the direct result of Labor’s soft-on-crime policies, LNP Leader Deb Frecklington said today.
Ms Frecklington spoke out on the day it was revealed that:
- On the Gold Coast a 12-year-old boy has been charged with stealing a BMW and causing a three-car pile-up in which a woman was hospitalised. The boy was released by a court only three weeks ago for carrying out an armed robbery.
- In Cairns up to 20 youths rampaged through a shopping centre, throwing chairs and bikes at security staff.
- Police are being deployed from Brisbane – which is facing its own juvenile crime crisis – to Aurukun, where two teenagers are alleged to have instigated a riot.
- In Townsville, there has been a 45 per cent surge in property, crime including break-ins and car thefts.
“This shocking crimewave is the direct result of Labor’s soft-on-crime policies,” Ms Frecklington said.
“Juvenile crime fell under the LNP and it has rocketed under Annastacia Palaszczuk.
“That’s not a coincidence.
“Labor rolled back the LNP’s tough laws and decided that breach of bail should no longer be an offence for juveniles.
“Labor’s catch-and-release approach to offenders is causing chaos across the length and breadth of Queensland.
“This crime crisis must be stopped, but it can only be stopped by changing the government.
“It’s clear that the Palaszczuk Labor Government will never put the rights of the community before the rights of offenders.”
