News about Australia

[Alexender NoahParticipant]

Youth crime plaguing residents of Australia’s historic peanut capital

Welcome to Kingaroy, Australia’s historic peanut capital, a quiet and quaint town in Queensland’s South Burnett Region.

Residents of the community, along with those in the surrounding towns of Wondai and Murgon, have reached breaking point after a string of youth crime incidents.

If residents haven’t been broken into, or had their car stolen, they tend to know someone who has.

Local mum Kaylah had her car stolen two days after Christmas.

The thieves somehow managed to slip away in the Mazda Sedan parked out front of her home while she was still awake inside.

She held out hope the car would be found by police and returned but she later discovered the vehicle was burnt out.

The incident has left Kaylah, her husband and their little boy stranded.

“Up in flames, because they don’t care,” she said.

Watch the video in the player above.

Statement from Queensland attorney-general Deb Frecklington
The crime wave the South Burnett has faced is disgraceful.

This is a time when people should be enjoying the new year – and instead they’re having their homes and cars targeted.

I know people are frustrated, because I am too.

What we need to remember is Labor created a youth crime crisis with a generation of untouchables.

The state – including the South Burnett – is dealing with the fallout of young, hardcore offenders, who were allowed to run wild for a decade under the old government.

When we went to the election in October, the Crisafulli Government promised fed-up Queenslanders that we would make community safety our number one priority.

And that is exactly what we have done over the past two and a half months.

The Making Queensland Safer laws were in place by Christmas, as we promised; the Youth Crime Taskforce is also now permanent – and we’re just getting started.

I’ve been actively working with police in my electorate – and I’ve been speaking directly to the Police Minister about not only the issues of the past week, but also police resourcing in the region.

I always have, and always will, advocate fiercely for my electorate.

This saw extra police resources deployed last week – and I was very pleased to see a number of arrests.

With the Making Queensland Safer laws now in force, any juveniles convicted of serious crimes like robbery, burglary or unlawful use of a motor vehicle, will face adult time.

Statement from Queensland Police Service
A total of 75 people have been charged in the South Burnett over the past month on 185 offences.

Darling Downs District works collectively to deliver consistent 24-hour policing services to the South Burnett community.

This includes proactive and reactive activities as well as specialist support and specialist response capabilities.

The QPS continues to adopt an agile and borderless policing approach enriched with technology, in which officers are no longer restricted to a static location.

Wondai Station is provided night shift coverage from neighbouring stations of Cherbourg and Murgon, which is 14 kilometres away.

This strong borderless policing model clearly reflects the QPS’s commitment to providing an ongoing service to the Darling Downs District and keeping Queenslanders safe.

The District is also supported by QPS operations and taskforces such as Operation Whiskey Legion (OWL) and Taskforce Guardian who were recently deployed in the area.

This past week, a combined effort between Murgon and Kingaroy Detectives, as well as Cherbourg and Murgon general duties officers resulted in the arrest of four serious juvenile offenders at Cherbourg.

The QPS can confirm that offenders have been arrested in relation to property offences committed at Watt Street, Murgon, and Booth Street, Kingaroy, and police have engaged with the victims and offered support services.

0

0

[Author]

Posts