January 27, 2023
Police officers are being dispatched from Townsville in an attempt to help tackle Mount Isa’s spiralling youth crime crisis, but Katter’s Australian Party Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter wants more.
Alice Springs in the Northern Territory had been in the headlines for its own youth crime emergency, fuelling an urgent visit from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“But what about Mount Isa?” Mr Katter asked.
“There’s no use just displacing this problem.
“We in Mount Isa have been dealing with crippling crime rates for far too long, yet are still to receive any recognition of this, let alone a visit from the Prime Minister.
“In 2022, according to Queensland Police data, there were 274 offences recorded for unlawful use of a motor vehicle, which, in Mount Isa, are mostly thefts, spelling an increase from 205 the previous year.
“That same year, Mount Isa recorded an increase in unlawful entry of property offences, scaling to 1,048 from 817 the previous year.”
Mr Katter expressed his frustration that all of the focus had now turned to Alice Springs despite what was continuing to unravel in the town he currently called home.
“Mount Isa is smack-bang along the first bitumen road into Queensland as you cross the border from the Northern Territory.
“I’ve caught wind of Tennant Creek residents calling Mount Isa “Sin City”, because they can get away with a lot more under Queensland laws.”
He feared the alcohol restrictions and anti-crime measures being introduced in Alice Springs would leave criminals looking for somewhere else to go and flush them into other regions.
“We are ill-equipped to deal with the crime rates as they are, let alone a further influx,” Mr Katter warned.
“I address Queensland’s youth crime issues far too often with little to no response.
“Why is it that the Northern Territory State Government and the Federal Government have leaped into gear to defend Alice Springs and surrounds in the Northern Territory, but we are still left here fighting with these crippling issues on a daily basis?
“Mount Isa has similar problems to the Northern Territory but because we are in a separate state, we get treated differently by the federal government.
"Closer to home however, our own State Government is 2,000 kilometres away and treats us as though we are a separate state, and that is with disregard.
"This is a cruel oversight.
"It’s up to the Premier to prove that she governs for all of Queensland, including the forgotten areas."
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