Goondiwindi Region Mayor, Lawrence Springborg AM has told Queensland’s Minister for Children and Youth Justice he wants juvenile crime in the town “nipped in the bud”.
The Mayor met with Minister Leanne Linard on a visit to Goondiwindi last Friday. The Minister also met with Police Senior Sergeant Richard Mcintosh and his team at the Goondiwindi Police Station.
“This visit was a key opportunity to advocate for the changes and additional resources our town needs to combat this spate of recidivist, juvenile crime,” said Mayor Springborg.
“The Minister was very well informed about the current situation here in Goondiwindi, and was very empathetic to our concerns and about the impact recurring youth crime is having on our community.
“Simply, residents are fed up. We want juvenile crime nipped in the bud. We don’t want it normalised, and it is not acceptable in our community.”
While he said the community understood that much of the crime occurring in the community involved a small group of young recidivist offenders, the fact was “cold comfort” to local victims of crime.
“On Friday, I advocated across several key issues concerning recent crime: firstly, I reinforced the need to ensure that the penalties handed out for juvenile crimes are actually real, demonstrable deterrents – but, this is a matter for the courts,” he said.
“Secondly, I reinforced to the Minster the challenges facing our community about offenders fleeing across the border after committing a crime. I also highlighted the importance of establishing one single jurisdiction in our border area to deal with associated crimes committed on either side of the QLD/NSW border simultaneously in the court – similar to the system currently in place in WA in border areas with SA and the NT. This would see all related offences dealt with in a single state, avoiding the back-and-forth over months or even years.”
The Mayor said Minister Linard has undertaken to work collaboratively to address the problems across the border.
“I reiterated the importance of working towards a 24-hour police station in Goondiwindi. It’s worth pointing out that since Council has been advocating progressively around this issue, additional police have been secured for the town. We’ve also had a greater police presence the last two weeks with Tactical Crime Squad in town.”
“Finally, I emphasised the need for sufficient resources to ensure early and sustained family intervention and support. I also pushed for more supervisory resources – this means that in the instances when the courts do release juvenile offenders into the community, there must be a greater degree of supervision and intervention.”
Mayor Springborg said the Minister was sympathetic to the matter and undertook to investigate the possible provision of such resources.
