Newsroom

October 9, 2024

Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Deputy Leader and Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto has criticised the LNP’s recently announced $50 million “reset” camps for troubled youth as another band-aid fix that lacks real substance or long-term solutions to North Queensland’s youth crime crisis.

Mr Dametto said that while the LNP touts this as “intensive early intervention,” the reality is it doesn’t address the real problem at hand: a lack of serious consequences and the complete absence of proper infrastructure to detain rising numbers of young offenders.

“The LNP claims they want to lock up more kids under their ‘adult crime, adult time’ policy that they adopted from the KAP, yet they’ve come up with no plan on where to put them,” Mr Dametto said.

“We’ve heard nothing about new detention centres, and now they want to introduce another so-called voluntary ‘holiday camp.’

“The LNP should explain how this will be any different to Labor’s recently introduced Intensive On Country program. What both the major parties have suggested is weak as water. These aren’t mandatory solutions that will force outcomes one way or another. They are retreats that kids can walk away from at any time.

“The LNP Leader is clearly out of touch with the North Queensland demographic if he thinks these kids will voluntarily turn up because the program “gives them hope”. Come on David.

“North Queensland will soon have their chance to vote for change but where’s the LNP when it comes to talking about serious infrastructure investment for more detention centres? Where’s the commitment to real solutions like bush sentencing or mandatory minimum detention for repeat offenders?

“These camps are just the LNP’s latest attempt to tick the ‘we’ll do something’ box without actually doing much at all.

“Both major parties have had ample time and opportunity to get serious about crime. Both have failed. I don’t see how LNP’s plan will be any different to Labor’s revolving door youth justice system. Queenslanders will not be tricked on this.”