The government has also promised to build two new youth detention centres to hold the predicted surge of new child prisoners after the laws pass.
National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds says the plans are “troubling on a number of fronts” and will impinge on human rights,despite what appears to be “little consultation”.
“Not only will this bill increase the number of children in detention in Queensland and erode their basic rights,it will do nothing to address the root causes,and won’t keep the community safer,” she said.
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The commissioner said international evidence showed reducing youth crime required the reform of education,health and social services,plus co-ordinated community-based programs to meet the needs of children and families in poverty and disadvantage,“not tougher bail laws and more children’s prisons”.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk refuses to reveal who proposed the harsh child bail laws,saying “the community” had been talking about it for a long time.
“Now we’ve been listening to the community,that’s exactly what we’ve done,” she told reporters.