Newsroom

February 18, 2022

State Member for Hill Shane Knuth has responded to news that the government is sending Ministers to North Queensland in response to the escalation in juvenile crime.

“They can pay lip service to the community and send every minister they want to North Queensland to talk about the issue, look concerned, beat their chest to get a media grab and then leave without any real action,” Mr Knuth said.

“But North Queenslanders are not stupid and have heard all the tired old lines before."

Mr Knuth said the community is screaming for an answer to juvenile crime, yet the State Government continues to stick their head in the sand and ignore viable options such as KAP’s relocation sentencing policy.

"Now more than ever, I firmly believe that relocation sentencing, should be immediately implemented,” he said.

“We need to break the youth crime cycle and that can only be done by removing affected youth from the community and relocate them to outback regions where they can't escape or fall back into old habits or mix with the wrong crowd when they are released back on the streets.

“We need to introduce special programs to teach them values and skills.

“A recent ABC News report on the spiralling youth crime issue in the Kimberley’s, WA is eerily similar to what we are facing in North Queensland.”

Mr Knuth said one of the solutions being discussed in WA was on-country sentencing, which is similar to KAP’s proposal for relocation sentencing.

“These youths need to be shown there is an alternative and be taught respect through hard earned work and tough lessons,” he said.

Mr Knuth said he launched a petition last year calling for the inclusion of relocation sentencing and other amendments to the State Governments Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, which was supported by close to 5,000 signatures.

“Unfortunately, the government refused to adopt relocation sentencing and has only implemented band-aid solutions, which clearly are ineffective and not-working,” he said.

"Until they throw out the standard playbook and consult properly with the community, listen to what they want and then truly consider ideas such as relocation sentencing, then nothing will change.”