According to the state's Public Guardian,there were children in watchhouses"who haven’t accessed any real outdoor air for two weeks or more,and who have little or no access to education".
The mother,whose name cannot be used for legal reasons,toldBrisbane Timesher 14-year-old son was withdrawn and despondent after spending almost a month locked inside a police watchhouse.
“He wouldn’t talk to me about what it was like in the watchhouse,he was too traumatised,” she toldBrisbane Times.
“All he did was steal some chocolate bars and deodorant from the 7-Eleven and he was locked up like a hardened criminal.
“Of course it makes me angry. The government says they are coming in and supporting our children,that is bullshit.”
Ms Palaszczuk said she did not want to see children locked up in watchhouses and had promised to build a 32-bed youth detention centre at Wacol and create 16 more beds at the existing Brisbane Youth Detention Centre.
But on Wednesday,Ms Palaszczuk could not give a time frame,or even a target,for when children would be moved to safer accommodation.