Canings for adults and deadly force for violent intruders?
The introduction of corporal punishment and the Castle Law is being pushed by a conservative minor party in the run-up to the Queensland election.
However, Katter’s Australian Party has backtracked on a tough stance on crime after a candidate’s past was highlighted by the opposition.
With youth crime being a major problem in the run-up to Saturday’s elections, Ben Campbell of the Katter Party offered his solution to the media on Monday.
The candidate from Barron River, in far north Queensland, backed the Conservative Party’s call for corporal punishment, with both child and adult offenders being caned.
The former Navy veteran said violent home invasions and car thefts would warrant a caning.
‘Caning is a punishment used in Singapore; let’s look at their crime rates,” he told reporters in Cairns.
KAP candidate Ben Campbell believes that violent home invasions and car thefts warrant a caning
‘Their crime rates are quite low, so they are clearly doing something right.
‘Adults should also be caned.’
Campbell also supported the Katter Party’s push for Castle Law – the right for a resident to defend their property with deadly force.
‘Absolute. If they are there to harm you, they deserve it back,” he said.
In June, the Katter party submitted a petition with more than 40,000 signatures calling for the introduction of the Castle Act.
However, the castle law bill was shelved after it was not brought up for discussion during the final week of parliament last month.
“Giving people in their homes the ability to fight back and defend themselves against criminals is critical,” Campbell said.
Abortion has also been a hot topic after party leader Robbie Katter promised to introduce a private members bill to parliament in the hope of changing the legislation.
Abortion was decriminalized in Queensland in 2018.
‘We’re not saying you can’t have an abortion. That is not our policy,” Campbell said.
With youth crime being a major problem in the run-up to Saturday’s elections, Ben Campbell of the Katter Party offered his solution to the media on Monday. In the photo: caning in Banda Aceh, Indonesia
“What we’re saying is… if an abortion goes wrong and the baby comes out alive, that baby should receive medical care, as I’m sure any of you would expect.”
The Katter party has steadfastly stuck to its tough position during the election campaign, but the opposition tried to turn the tables on Monday.
Liberal National Party deputy Jarrod Bleijie has taken aim at Michael Pugh after the Katter Party candidate for Mundingburra in Townsville admitted his criminal past when declaring he would contest the seat in June.
He was charged with burglary and theft in the early 2000s.
Mr Bleijie read out to the media on Monday summaries of a newspaper article about the Mundingburra candidate’s criminal past, including a home invasion.
“It’s about a Katter Australian Party candidate who once used a sheathed bayonet in a home invasion while trying to collect a drug debt,” Bleijie said.
‘In the report, Crown prosecutor David Jones said Mr Pugh had shouted ‘Don’t go to the police you dogs or I’ll come back and bash you’.
“It is unprecedented that the Katter party puts forward a candidate who breaks into a house with a bayonet to collect a drug debt.”
Mr Pugh said in June that he had pleaded guilty to burglary and theft with violence in the early 2000s, when he was in his early 20s.
He said he had always intended to inform voters before the elections and that KAP was aware of his record before selecting him as a candidate.