The Queensland parliament is this afternoon expected to pass tough new youth justice laws. They were promised by the LNP during the October state election. Across more than a dozen serious crimes, young offenders will be sentenced as adults.
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00:00The LNP government is cracking down on youth crime.
00:05Here's what its legislation means.
00:08It's called the Making Queensland Safer Bill and includes the adult crime, adult time policy.
00:15First and foremost, it starts with consequences for actions.
00:18So if a juvenile commits any of these offences, they would get the same penalty an adult would.
00:24For something like murder, that means life in prison with a non-parole period of 20 years.
00:30The laws scrap the principle of detention as a last resort, and courts will be able
00:35to consider an offender's full criminal history when sentencing.
00:39To send a message to those hardcore repeat offenders that the days of terrorising Queensland are over.
00:46While there's plenty of support for a tougher approach.
00:49There are certain individuals in our community who should not be walking amongst us.
00:54There's also plenty of concern.
00:56Punitive responses to youth crime will not make the community safer.
01:02It will harm some of the most disadvantaged children in our community.
01:06The government acknowledges that its laws override the human rights of children, but
01:11argues the youth crime situation in Queensland is exceptional.
01:16The state is in the middle of a youth crime crisis and we have to do something about it.