Newsroom

August 15, 2025

Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Deputy Leader and Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto has criticised the LNP State Government over its failure to deliver a solution to Townsville’s worsening youth crime crisis and called out the Youth Justice Minister for failing to deliver any meaningful relief for those suffering from the youth crime scourge.

Recent Queensland Police statistics reveal in Townsville that more than ten break and enter as well as almost five unlawful use of motor vehicle offences are being committed each day. These numbers paint a grim picture for residents across North Queensland.

Mr Dametto said people in Townsville, Cairns and Mount Isa had become “sitting ducks” waiting to become the next crime statistic.

“The government is funding and working to implement early intervention strategies for at risk youth, but doing little to address the serious, recidivist offenders in the system.

“We know it will take time for the new Adult Crime, Adult Time laws to start taking effect, but North Queenslanders are demanding the kind of reprieve that only minimum mandatory sentencing could deliver,” he said.

“Shocking re-offending rates demonstrate that a short stay at “Club Cleveland” Youth Detention Centre is doing nothing to correct their criminal behaviour.

“In the lead up to the state election, the LNP adopted KAP’s Relocation Sentencing (or bush sentencing) policy and rebranded it as their own Circuit Breaker Sentencing policy. This should have been the catalyst for meaningful youth detention reform.

“Our policy was designed to break the crime cycle, putting distance between perpetrator and their victim while creating a real deterrent for reoffending. Six to twelve months of hard labour in a rural environment designed to teach life skills and demonstrate that there’s a future away from crime was our policy objective. But ten months later it appears the LNP can’t figure out how to take this idea from press release to program.

“Why aren’t the three Townsville MPs calling to see Circuit Breaker Sentencing implemented immediately? Nobody has heard or seen them on this issue. Their silence is starting to make it into water cooler and BBQ conversations across the city.

“I’ve done my best to give the incoming government a grace period on this problem, but he clock is ticking for the LNP and the Youth Justice Minister. Will their first election commitment failure be on crime, ironically, the platform that they won the election on?”