On the 30th of April, Queensland Premier Steven Miles unveiled his new ‘Community Safety Plan for Queensland’, in response to accusations by the opposition that Labor isn’t taking crime seriously.

The $1.7 billion dollar plan announces action in five key areas: supporting victims, expanding police, detaining offenders, intervention for offenders, and crime prevention.

The plan is heavily police focused. It plans to recruit 3000 more police personnel, including 500 new sworn officers, as well as purchasing two new police helicopters, and increase funding for various policing programs and equipment.

Despite reporting a decrease in crime, especially youth crime, in the most recent quarter, the government intends to crack down even harder on youth offenders.

This includes building new detention centres, expanding electronic monitoring for young people and abandoning the principle of ‘detention as a last resort’ for young offenders.

This action has been criticised as a violation of Australia’s human rights obligations under article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Other changes announced include; allowing the media to view children’s court, setting up a commission to look at law reform in the criminal justice system, a permanent youth crime taskforce, expanded victim support programs, an expanded domestic and family violence task force, and harsher sentences for youth offenders.

Crime is set to be a major issue in the upcoming state election on the 26th of October, with 42% of voters saying that crime is a major concern for them, second only to cost of living, with the issue being particularly acute in regional areas. 

Reporting by The Guardian claims that “Multiple sources identified the changes as necessary to stop ongoing attacks by the Liberal National Party”. Most recent polls have the LNP leading Labor by 11 points, so the Labor party is desperate to do what it can to turn the tide back in its favour.

The Government has criticised the Opposition’s tough-on-crime stance in the past. In 2019 Youth Justice Minister, Di Farmer, said that if they government pursued a punitive approach on youth justice there would be an “almost 100% chance” of re-offending. In 2020 Steven Miles, then the Deputy premier, called the opposition’s position “dangerous”. Now, with an unfavourable election looming, Labor has chosen to change its view.

The hope is that by moving to the right on crime, they can stop moderate Labor voters from switching to the Liberals this October, but this runs the risk of simply legitimising the LNP’s position whilst alienating voters on the left who might switch to the Greens.

Only time will tell whether this gamble pays off.

You can read the community safety plan for yourself here: https://www.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/477335/Community-Safety-Plan-for-Queensland.pdf?v1