Crime in the North

ON BEHALF OF SHANE KNUTH MP FOR HILL

MEMBER for Hill Shane Knuth welcomes the chance for a public hearing to be held in Cairns to discuss the Strengthening Community Safety Bill 2023.

He said for years the Far North has seen escalating crime rates across all communities.

"Queenslanders are now rising up and have had a gutful. They have been warning the government for eight years and now it has gotten to the point that it will take a decade to pull it back to where it was," Mr Knuth said. business owners and families that will feel the pain inflicted by the Labor government. Australian families will potentially have 25 per cent less food and fibre available to them, according to the National Irrigators’ Council, if the Labor government uses buybacks instead of infrastructure to recover water for the environment.”

"The reality is the bill in its current form will nowhere near go far enough.

"It needs to be strengthened and harsher penalties put in place to correct the issue."

Mr Knuth said there needed to be some serious changes in the bill to make a difference.

Mr Littleproud said the Minister’s statement meant in his electorate of Maranoa, the final 14 gigalitres required to be recovered in Queensland would not be the end of the Basin Plan for communities.

“It means the Albanese government

"This is why KAP will be introducing four amendments to the legislation; Removal of detention as a last resort.

Mandatory minimum sentencing for particular offences (unlawful use of motor vehicles, burglary, break and enter).

Presumption to be tried as an adult for particular offences; and Relocation sentencing.

Mareeba Shire Council has written in their submission that they introduced a motion at the 2022 LGAQ Conference calling on the State Government to introduce diversionary facilities on will buy water from farms right across the Basin including Queensland without a safety net to recover the additional 450 gigalitres.”

Mr Littleproud added he was also disappointed Queensland Water Minister Glenn Butcher had gone silent.

“Where is Minister Butcher and why is he not fighting for these communities that are about to be butchered themselves by Labor? Labor’s plan will wreak havoc throughout regional Queensland and ultimately, it will put more pressure on Australian families at the grocery store. All Australians will pay for Labor’s refusal to consult and save our farming areas.” more remote state-owned properties where young people who have started falling into trouble with the law can be sent to gain both social and technical skills rather than being sent to a Youth Detention Centre. https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/farnorth/ queensland-crime-statistics/

Mr Knuth said this fell in line with KAP's call for relation sentencing.

In 2002 in the Far North there was a total of 34,146 offenses. In 2022 there was a total of 53,793 offences recorded on the Queensland Police website.