George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's with some sadness, actually, that I rise to support this motion, because I know that the tragedy that occurred in the member for Bowman's electorate was something that was felt very much by him and by those across his community and across the rest of the nation. Firstly, through you, Deputy Speaker, to the member for Bowman and to his community, I want to express my condolences to the family—and I do say 'family', because there was an unborn child that was killed in these tragic, tragic circumstances.

But the member for Bowman has hit the root cause of this problem, and the problem is juvenile crime but the problem is also the system that's actually enabling it. I've got to tell you that we have an immense problem in North Queensland as well in this regard. As the member for Kennedy would know too well, day after day, night after night, in Townsville, we hear of problems that are occurring in the field of juvenile crime. It is now out of control. The system is completely and utterly broken. I know the member for Herbert has been pushing very, very strongly for measures that would rectify this at the state level. And it certainly needs it. The system is broken. I believe, at the state level, what needs to happen is the reintroduction of boot camps, which were never ever fully tested and tried, as a way to instil some discipline and have behavioural change, because that is the only thing that is going to actually lessen crime and juvenile crime. We have this growing problem in Mackay as well. Many, many constituents have reported to me that their homes have been burgled or their cars stolen. It is also something that is getting quite out of control in Mackay.

But the member for Bowman, in the motion that he has put before us, has talked about how the federal government, sadly, through the welfare system, is partly enabling this process. You see, we have young people who are not earning and not learning; they're not at school, at university or at TAFE; they're not in a job.

Mr Laming interjecting—

And they're completely lost in the system, as the member for Bowman interjects. But what is happening is: they are getting paid welfare, through youth allowance, that basically enables them just to drift on in life, without aim. There's not too much in the way of mutual obligation for those people. There certainly is no drug testing regime. And there certainly is no accountability as to how that money is spent.

I know that Mackay has an immense problem with ice—with crystal methamphetamine. It is destroying young people. We now have young people in their teens who are homeless; they are homeless because places don't want to take them in because they are high, a lot of the time, on crystal methamphetamine, and they get violent—they get really violent. It takes several adults to control a young person who's doped up and high on ice. Mackay has such a problem that, anecdotally, I hear that, in the legal fraternity, it's called 'the North Pole'. That is very, very sad.

One way that we can stamp this out—along with tackling the dealers, which I know our police do a great job in; our Australian Federal Police do a great job in trying to destroy the supply lines—is to destroy the demand by putting these young people, who are not earning or learning and unfortunately are just drifting, on income management. We can put income management on the welfare that the Australian taxpayer provides to them. Income management will ensure that that money is not going on illegal substances and not being spent on drugs that destroy their lives and lead to out-of-control juvenile crime. That is what we need. I've been a big supporter of drug testing for the dole and I will be a big supporter of drug testing for these young people and of ensuring that, if they are found to have been taking drugs, something is done with them.

But that comes back to the state government. We've got a system where these young people can just go and do whatever they like—they're known to be drug takers; they're known to be violent—but nothing happens. Well, there needs to be a point where intervention occurs and these young people are grabbed and forcibly put in some sort of regime that actually means they're going to change and going to be rehabilitated. Until governments get the willpower to do this, this problem is never ever going to be fixed, and it should be. So I commend the member for Bowman for this motion. Well done.

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