Hundreds are rallying for tougher action against Queensland’s youth crime wave as victims receive a big reward
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Brisbane’s Queens Park on Sunday and marched on state parliament, calling on the government to take a tougher stance on youth crime.
The meeting, organized by the Crime and Justice Action Group, follows a meeting between anti-crime advocates and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, where she said payouts for victims of serious crime would rise from $10,000 to $120,000.
But anti-crime advocate Ben Cannon said advocates wanted the government to take a tougher stance on crime.
“Things we haven’t gotten to yet and thought were easy are zero tolerance. It’s a point we’ve been pushing for from the beginning,” he told the Today show on Friday.
‘The government does not understand what this could look like in legislation. We told them to fix that and we know that’s what we want as a community.”
Hundreds of protesters (pictured) gathered in Brisbane’s Queens Park on Sunday and marched on state parliament, calling on the government to take a tougher stance on youth crime
Townsville resident Karl Boevink (pictured centre) spoke at the meeting from a wheelchair after suffering a broken leg in a car accident in October
Juvenile crime has become a hot topic in the state following several examples of teenagers committing serious crimes.
The participants of the meeting on Sunday held up signs that read: ‘Youth crime out of control, Prime Minister all talk, no action’ and wore shirts that read: ‘Vote for victims’.
Townsville resident Karl Boevink spoke at the meeting from a wheelchair after suffering a broken leg in a car accident in October.
Mr Boevink was hit in Townsville by a suspected stolen truck which was transporting teenagers at the time.
On the same day as the meeting, the government announced new laws to crack down on potential juvenile delinquents.
The proposed laws would make it a criminal offense to sell knives and other bladed items and replicas of firearms, including gel blasters, to young people.
Anyone who attempts to use false identification to purchase any of these items may also be charged with a crime.
Retailers will be required to post signs regarding the ban on sales to young people and will have obligations requiring safe storage for certain other bladed items, such as machetes, axes, swords, sickles, daggers, double-edged blades and spears.
The new measures follow the introduction of Jack’s Law in March, which gives police more powers to search for weapons.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said the new measures would go ‘hand in hand’ with Jack’s Law to tackle crime.
Rally participants (pictured) held up signs that read: ‘Youth crime out of control, Prime Minister all talk, no action’ and wore shirts that read: ‘Vote for victims’
“With 1,600 violations discovered as part of robbing operations to date, there is no doubt that Jack’s Law plays an important role in keeping Queenslanders safe,” he said.
Acting Commander Youth Crime Taskforce Paul Hart said the proposed laws would increase the ability of police to keep knife crime ‘moving’.
“It will allow officers to take action against those who unlawfully sell guns to young people who may intend to use them to commit violent crimes,” he said.
“The results of Jack’s Law speak for themselves, and with further legislation limiting youth access to guns, we are confident we can continue to increase community safety.”