Queensland premier unveils ‘breach bail, go to jail’ slogan
Joe Hinchliffe
David Crisafulli has vowed to imprison more youth offenders.
In a keynote speech to the Liberal National party’s state conference on Sunday, the Queensland premier said his government would create and legislate a new offence by the end of the year, carrying a mandatory sentence – yet to be set – for repeat offenders who commit serious crimes while on bail.
“Breach bail, go to jail is the next phase of adult crime, adult time, which is holding youth offenders accountable for the first time in a long time,” Crisafulli said.
double quotation mark We’re heading in the right direction and we’ve heard from Queenslanders who are telling us to keep going, and we will with reforms to Labor’s weak bail laws.
But the Youth Advocacy Centre chief executive, Katherine Hayes, said Queensland already had the “harshest youth bail laws in Australia” – a model that became increasingly punitive under the previous government, which introduced a presumption against bail into the Youth Justice Act and made breach of bail a criminal offence.
“Queensland already locks up more kids than anywhere else in Australia – more than Victoria and New South Wales combined,” Hayes said.
double quotation mark This is a further step to make already harsh bail laws harsher.
The Sisters Inside CEO, Debbie Kilroy, said the LNP government had “declared war on children”.
“Queensland is building a youth justice system driven by headlines instead of evidence,” she said.
Key events
Albanese issues apology after response to ‘shag, marry or date’ podcast question
Anthony Albanese apologied “unequivocally” after making an off-the-cuff remark on a comedy podcast when asked who he would “shag, marry or date”.
The prime minister was speaking to Nova host Nikki Osborne and was asked to choose between Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman or Rhonda Burchmore.
“I’ve just got married, I’m only six months in,” he said.
When pressed, Albanese said: “Oh, Kylie, clearly.”
“You’d marry Kylie, and shag her and date?” Osborne asked.
“All of the above,” he said.
The prime minister released a short statement this morning about the remarks, saying:
double quotation mark I apologise unequivocally for the comments.
Josh Butler
Albanese to host PNG, Tonga leaders at State of Origin
Anthony Albanese will host the leaders of Papua New Guinea and Tonga at the State of Origin decider in Brisbane on Wednesday night, amid a series of high-level diplomatic engagements this week.
The prime minister will travel to Fiji and Solomon Islands on Monday and Tuesday, then return to Queensland for Wednesday night’s rugby league series decider. NSW and Queensland have won one game apiece, with the third and final game to be held in Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
The Albanese government has elevated the sport of rugby league into a major diplomatic item in the Pacific, including supporting the inclusion of a PNG team in the NRL competition from 2028 with $600m in federal funds. Tonga and PNG have strong histories with rugby league, with a number of players from both countries playing in the NRL.
Wednesday is also the day that Australia’s new mutual defence treaty with PNG comes into force. Albanese will meet PNG and Tonga’s leaders for bilateral meetings, with regional security, trade and economic growth on the agenda.
“This important series of meetings in Brisbane comes at a time where we are working closely with our Pacific family on the issues that matter to our region,” Albanese said.
double quotation mark I am very much looking forward to hosting Pacific leaders in Brisbane on Wednesday and attending the State of Origin with them. Through one of Australia’s favourite sporting codes, we are bringing our Pacific family closer together.
Joe Hinchliffe
‘Where will they put those young people?’
The Queensland government is trying to “fix crime with a slogan”, the state’s opposition says.
The shadow youth justice minister, Di Farmer, said detention centres were already at capacity, in “almost constant lockdown”, experiencing staff walk-offs and had seen children lingering in watchhouses.
“The question that needs to be asked of the LNP is: where will they put those young people if they go to detention?” Farmer told press on Sunday.
double quotation mark Today’s announcement is another slogan, without substance, but it is a slogan which could break the Queensland youth justice system.
Queensland premier unveils ‘breach bail, go to jail’ slogan
Joe Hinchliffe
David Crisafulli has vowed to imprison more youth offenders.
In a keynote speech to the Liberal National party’s state conference on Sunday, the Queensland premier said his government would create and legislate a new offence by the end of the year, carrying a mandatory sentence – yet to be set – for repeat offenders who commit serious crimes while on bail.
“Breach bail, go to jail is the next phase of adult crime, adult time, which is holding youth offenders accountable for the first time in a long time,” Crisafulli said.
double quotation mark We’re heading in the right direction and we’ve heard from Queenslanders who are telling us to keep going, and we will with reforms to Labor’s weak bail laws.
But the Youth Advocacy Centre chief executive, Katherine Hayes, said Queensland already had the “harshest youth bail laws in Australia” – a model that became increasingly punitive under the previous government, which introduced a presumption against bail into the Youth Justice Act and made breach of bail a criminal offence.
“Queensland already locks up more kids than anywhere else in Australia – more than Victoria and New South Wales combined,” Hayes said.
double quotation mark This is a further step to make already harsh bail laws harsher.
The Sisters Inside CEO, Debbie Kilroy, said the LNP government had “declared war on children”.
“Queensland is building a youth justice system driven by headlines instead of evidence,” she said.
Good morning
Good morning, and happy Monday. Nick Visser here to start things off this week. Here’s what’s on deck:
The Queensland premier said his government would create and legislate a new offence by the end of the year for youth offenders, carrying a mandatory sentence – yet to be set – for repeat offenders who commit serious crimes while on bail. The premier said
“breach bail, go to jail” is the next phase of adult crime, adult time.
Auction clearance rates were below 50% across the combined capitals for the third week in a row. New data from Cotality shows just 49.8% of homes were sold at auction.
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