Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

There really is no place like home, but what happens when your home becomes less of a safe haven and more like a horror movie, where fear of the worst happening soon becomes a reality? This was the reality that met the late Emma Lovell and her husband, Lee, on 26 December 2022 in their North Lakes home. Emma and her family had returned home from Boxing Day celebrations with friends when, only hours later, she was awoken by two intruders, who fatally stabbed Emma and injured her husband, Lee, right in front of their two young daughters. The accused intruders were only 17 years old. One was released on bail only six hours before breaking into Emma's home and taking her life. And in 2020 our community was devastated when 14-year-old Angus Beaumont lost his life after being stabbed in the chest in a Redcliffe park by two 14-year-olds.

The people of Petrie deserve to feel safe on the streets, in their community and in their own homes, but they are being failed by a dodgy Labor state government, who have weakened youth crime laws. The people of my community are paying the price. When the Palaszczuk government came to power in Queensland, they acted to remove breach of bail as an offence. This single act has resulted in young offenders who commit criminal acts repeatedly without consequence, and Queenslanders have had enough. I have no doubt that, if Yvette D'Ath, the member for Redcliffe, as Attorney-General at the time, hadn't weakened the youth justice laws, under the leadership of Annastacia Palaszczuk, Emma Lovell would most likely still be alive today, because one of the intruders would have been detained.

After two years of campaigning for breach of bail to be amended in the Youth Justice Act, Queensland opposition leader David Crisafulli has delivered a win for Queenslanders, with the government finally accepting their policy for breach of bail as an offence. Craig Davies, a constituent from Bridgeman Downs, and a member of the local Neighbourhood Watch, reached out to me recently to discuss the increase of youth crime incidents in his area. From home invasions to car theft, vandalism to assault—all are on the rise under the state Labor government. I'm receiving the same feedback from the top of the electorate to the bottom and right through. The fight to curb the Labor government's out-of-control youth crime crisis is not over, and more needs to be done. Queenslanders want a Youth Justice Act that has consequences for action, where the rights of the victim are greater than the rights of the offender, where there is a standard of judiciary that doesn't leave detention as a last resort and there is early intervention before our youngest Queenslanders are lost to a life of crime. Annastacia Palaszczuk and Labor's broken laws should be repaired before more lives are lost. The only way to change things is to elect the Liberal National Party and David Crisafulli as Premier at the election next year. That's what it will take to get big improvements.

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