‘A desperate grab for power’, that is how youth advocates have described the QLD state governments latest move to address youth crime. Laws spelling out when juveniles should be detained are being re-written to prioritise community safety. But the opposition believe nothing will change.
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00:00 A show and tell and a show of force at state parliament.
00:09 Just under six months until the next state election, Labor's introduced a raft of proposed
00:14 law changes including youth justice.
00:16 We're changing the laws to be very clear to the public and to the courts that community
00:21 safety is our priority.
00:23 Trying to neutralise an attack from the LNP, the Premier's announced the government will
00:28 remove its own 2016 provision that a child should be detained only as a last resort.
00:34 The existing wording was undermining confidence in the courts and in the laws.
00:39 The government is replacing the detention of last resort clause with a new one that
00:43 says a child should be detained where necessary, including to ensure community safety where
00:48 other non-custodial measures wouldn't be sufficient.
00:52 The opposition says it won't change much.
00:54 But it's a change in form, not a change in substance.
00:58 Even the government's own documents state they're just clarifying provisions and are
01:02 not intended to change the law.
01:04 Gone.
01:05 That's how you get rid of detention, as a last resort.
01:09 Not re-wording it.
01:10 Either way, youth advocates are disgusted.
01:13 This is just a political manoeuvre and a desperate grab for power.
01:20 Neither party is doing anything that will make the community safer.
01:23 Mr Miles can't say if there'll be more kids in detention.
01:26 That's hard to say.
01:27 We have seen and always see fluctuation in the number of people in detention.
01:32 It'll be up to the courts to interpret the law changes when they pass.
01:37 But members of the legal sector already believe there will be an impact.
01:41 Our expectation is that more young people will be in jail.
01:45 We have the highest rates of youth detention in the country and it's not working because
01:49 detention is not rehabilitative.
01:51 On the streets of Brisbane, opinions are divided.
01:54 One warning and then yeah, lock them up.
01:58 Same as an adult I guess.
01:59 Well I don't think locking them up is doing much.
02:02 These children need support.
02:05 I mean people's lives are complicated.
02:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]