Category Archives: Queensland politics

Queensland Labor to remove principle of detention as last resort from Youth Justice Act

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Steven Miles’ government claims to have legal advice from Crown Law and solicitor general that amendments will not violate Human Rights Act or international law

The principle of detention as a last resort will be removed from the Queensland Youth Justice Act, under legislation introduced by the Labor government on Wednesday.

The Youth Justice Act will be redrafted to read: “A child should be detained in custody, where necessary, including to ensure community safety, where other non-custodial measures of prevention and intervention would not be sufficient, and for no longer than necessary to meet the purpose of detention.”

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A bipartisan committee set out to end Queensland’s politicisation of youth crime. It failed spectacularly

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Disappointment and frustration as parliamentary inquiry into youth justice reform ‘degenerates into a squabble’

Queensland’s only independent state MP, Sandy Bolton, had high hopes last October when she was made chair of a parliamentary committee tasked with coming up with solutions on youth crime.

It was the first parliamentary committee to be independently chaired in more than two decades, and Bolton hoped it would stymie the politicisation of the issue by taking “a collaborative and bipartisan approach” that would lead to “constructive solutions”.

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300,000ha Queensland cattle station bought for conservation after $21m donation

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State government and Nature Conservancy jointly purchase Vergemont station, which contains habitat for endangered night parrots

A Queensland outback cattle station the size of Yosemite national park which includes key habitat for the elusive night parrot has been acquired for conservation after an anonymous donation of $21m.

Vergemont station, 110km west of Longreach, was acquired in a joint purchase by the Queensland government and the Nature Conservancy, which brokered the deal. The group said it is likely the single largest philanthropic contribution to land protection in Australia.

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Parents fear children are being sent back to asbestos-riddled classrooms at Queensland school

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Premier Steven Miles says experts advise all classrooms at Rochedale state school ‘are safe for staff and students to return’

Parents are terrified their children are still being exposed to asbestos at a Queensland primary school, alleging a patch-up job has not made the classrooms safe.

They fear children may have been exposed to asbestos for months or even years at the school.

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Queensland opposition leader casts doubt over future of state’s new pill testing regime

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David Crisafulli criticises pill testing trial in sign opposition may roll back harm minimisation polices if elected in October

The Queensland opposition leader, David Crisafulli, has criticised the state’s new pill testing regime, a potential sign his party would roll back Labor’s new drug policies if elected in October.

The sunshine state opened its first festival clinic on Thursday and will open the first fixed site clinic in Brisbane next month. The Labor government has committed to open a second once a site has been confirmed.

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Youth justice on the line as LNP and Labor weigh up community fears about safety

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Some Labor MPs are eyeing the LNP’s tough policy on detention in bid to sway anxious voters in October election


Looking down the barrel of the camera, LNP leader David Crisafulli addresses Queenslanders directly in the party’s latest TV ad.

Appearing concerned and candid in his home town of Townsville, Crisafulli delivers a simple message: Elect me, and I’ll keep you safe.

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Queensland LNP vows to ditch ‘detention as last resort’ approach to youth crime

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Opposition leader David Crisafulli says LNP would rewrite Youth Justice Act ‘to put victims first’ if it wins October election

The Queensland Liberal National party opposition has vowed to remove the principle of detention as a last resort from the Youth Justice Act before year’s end if it wins the state election.

Speaking in Townsville on Tuesday, the LNP leader, David Crisafulli, revealed more detail about the party’s “Making Queensland safer laws” and accused Labor of having a “conga line of crises”.

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Peter Dutton in standoff with state Liberal leaders over federal Coalition’s nuclear plan

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The federal opposition leader’s calls to include nuclear power in Australia’s energy mix has so far failed to win support from his state colleagues

The federal Coalition faces a battle with the states on its proposal for nuclear power stations at the sites of decommissioned coal power plants, with state premiers and opposition leaders alike largely against Peter Dutton’s proposal.

Labor governments and Coalition oppositions in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia are either outright opposed to the plan or have failed to endorse it.

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Anti-abortion campaigner wins control of Brisbane LNP division

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Concerns raised after former Cherish Life vice-president Alan Baker elected chair of party’s Griffith divisional council

A prominent anti-abortion campaigner has won control of a Brisbane division of the Liberal National party, prompting alarm among moderates that “fringe infiltrators” were attempting to increase their influence as polls point to a state election win.

Alan Baker, a former vice-president of the anti-abortion lobby group Cherish Life, was elected chair of the LNP’s Griffith federal divisional council (FDC) by two votes on Thursday night.

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No new stadium to be built for 2032 Olympics as Queensland opposition leader reveals plan

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David Crisafulli’s stance means the multi-billion dollar Victoria Park plan recommended by Graham Quirk on Monday is dead

Queensland’s 2032 Olympics will not be held in a brand-new stadium, with both major parties now ruling out the Victoria Park and Gabba rebuild options.

The opposition leader, David Crisafulli, broke his four-day silence on Thursday, promising there will be no new stadium. The LNP leader also ruled out cancelling the Games.

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Queensland to become first state to introduce permanent pill-testing clinics

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Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival will conduct testing onsite at the end of March and first fixed-site clinic will open in Bowen Hills in April

Queensland will establish the first of two fixed pill-testing clinics in Brisbane this year, the first Australian state to back the harm reduction strategy on an ongoing basis.

The Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival near Warwick will be the first to conduct pill testing on site, at the end of the month. In 2019 two people died after taking drugs at the festival.

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The path to re-election for Queensland Labor looks like a narrowing goat track after its ‘Super Saturday’ losses

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Steven Miles’s government is fighting battles on multiple fronts – and shifting right or left will only create new problems elsewhere

Seven months before Campbell Newman was tossed from office by angry Queensland voters, he called a press conference, flanked by members of his cabinet, and apologised.

“I just want to say I am sorry today if we have done things that have upset people,” Newman said, days after his government was humbled, with a 19% swing, at a Brisbane byelection. “We will be doing a lot better in the future.”

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Appeal for information after death of man found injured on Sydney road – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Paterson blasts government’s immigration detention policy

Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson is now asked about immigration detention, given the government has been briefing that the high court is unlikely to allow indefinite detention to continue.

We have a risk now, that is that offenders, foreign offenders, are in the community reoffending against Australians. People are victims, who should haven’t been, because these people should not have been released. Once they were, they should have been taken off the streets.

All Australian politicians are active on the platform. I think that is OK as long as they follow the government’s national security advice about mitigating the risks. For example, it shouldn’t be on the same device they have their work or personal information on, on a stand alone.

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Shock losses to LNP and Greens in Queensland elections sound warning for Labor ahead of October poll

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Premier Steven Miles says massive swing against ALP in two key byelections was ‘very bad’ for his government

Queensland premier Steven Miles concedes massive swings against his government at the Ipswich West and Inala byelections are “very bad” for the Labor party and could result in a wipeout at the October general election if it doesn’t acknowledge the message sent by voters.

Labor lost the safe seat of Ipswich West to the Liberal National party after a two-party swing of about 18%.

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Concerns raised over solitary confinement in Queensland youth detention after deaths of two First Nations boys

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Government report says placing children in prison isolation can affect their health and wellbeing in ‘severe, long-term and irreversible ways’

A Queensland government report has raised concerns over the use of solitary confinement in youth detention, detailing the case of two First Nations children with disabilities who died after spending extensive time in isolation at overcrowded and understaffed youth detention centres.

The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Thursday, details the anonymised cases of two boys, Harry* and Jack*. The report does not explicitly state their cause of death but Guardian Australia understands it to be suicide.

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Australian politicians spending two-thirds of time on the road at taxpayer expense, data shows

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Nationals’ Bridget McKenzie and Andrew Willcox top list with more than $20,000 spent each on nights away from home

A handful of federal politicians are spending more than two-thirds of their time on the road and in hotels, with one Nationals MP billing taxpayers for accommodation nearly every night over a four-month period, latest travel expenses data shows.

Andrew Willcox, the first-time member for Dawson, spent 113 days travelling over a 116-day period between August and December 2022, according to the most recent independent parliamentary expense authority’s (Ipea) data.

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More than 550 issues raised on behalf of children in police lockups this year, Queensland public guardian says

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Exclusive: Influx of reports comes amid concerns about welfare of young people detained in overcrowded adult watch houses

The Queensland public guardian says its community visitors have reported more than 550 issues on behalf of children detained in police watch houses since the start of this year, amid ongoing concerns about the welfare of young people in overcrowded and “unsuitable” lockups.

First-hand reports from watch houses, revealed by Guardian Australia in January and February, detail how the system is struggling to cope with an influx of children, the result of the state government’s “tough on crime” justice policies.

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Text message from Queensland premier sparks war of words after photo is snapped of MP’s phone

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LNP accuses Steven Miles in parliament of lying, while Labor claims an unnamed opposition MP was trying to intimidate Ali King

Queensland’s opposition has accused the premier of lying, while Labor claims an unnamed Liberal National party member was trying to intimidate a female MP by taking a “creepy” photo of her phone inside state parliament.

Steven Miles stood in parliament on Tuesday to correct the record, admitting he was mistaken when he told the chamber in February that he had not sent a text message to Labor’s Ali King during sittings last October.

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Greens aim to turn Eagle Farm racecourse site into housing if they win Brisbane city election

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Mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan says council would compulsorily acquire the site if party wins poll

The Greens could compulsorily acquire the Eagle Farm racecourse site to make way for council-owned housing if elected at this month’s local poll.

The party has previously released plans to build 4,000 homes on the 49-hectare site. It neighbours Doomben racecourse and the Ascot and Doomben railway stations.

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Queensland police to be granted power to instantly issue year-long domestic violence protection orders

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Exclusive: New ‘police efficiency’ laws planned amid political pressure to devote more frontline resources to youth crime

The Queensland government is planning to introduce new “police efficiency” laws that would empower officers to issue on-the-spot year-long domestic violence protection orders, amid ongoing political pressure to devote more frontline resources to youth crime.

Documents leaked to Guardian Australia show the state intends to announce police “modernisation measures” in mid-March, including legislative amendments allowing officers to impose immediate protection orders for up to 12 months without having to make an application to a court.

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