Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Crime is the No. 1 issue facing the residents of Townsville. Last night, homes were broken into, cars were stolen and violence took place on our streets, and tonight and tomorrow night these things will happen again. Earlier this month, a group of 16-year-old girls went to the movies, and on their way in, before they had even purchased a ticket or bought popcorn, a group of eight juvenile criminals cornered them. They violently beat two of the young girls, punching them in the back of the head, kicking them and pushing them to the ground. I know this because one of the offenders filmed the violent bashing and posted it to Instagram with the words, 'My girls bashed you.' Youth criminals are taking to social media to gain online notoriety. They are promoting their crimes, glorifying their disgusting behaviour and recruiting the next generation so the cycle continues. It has to stop.

The federal coalition is introducing a private member's bill that will make it illegal to post criminal activity online. Townsville has been under siege by violent youth criminals for far too long, and we've had enough. Only the state government MPs can change the state law. The weak Queensland state Labor government refuses to remove from the Youth Justice Act the principle that detention should be a last resort. To break this cycle, we must remove content that glorifies violence, break-ins and the stealing of cars. We must punish bad behaviour, and I strongly encourage the Albanese Labor government to support this bill and allow us to fix the issue that continues to plague our city and the nation. (Time expired)