00:00It's already been quite a divisive policy, now the LNP has promised that if they are
00:05elected in October they will be looking to change legislation and they will be looking
00:10to introduce adult sentencing for young offenders.
00:13Now currently the legislation that is in place in Queensland offers special protections for
00:18children under the Youth Justice Act.
00:20So this policy will be looking to curb the state's youth crime crisis and it's running
00:25under a slogan of adult time for adult crime and effectively what this means is that it
00:29will apply to serious offences like murder, manslaughter, grievous bodily harm as well
00:35as some motor vehicle offences but it really has received some mixed reactions.
00:39We've heard from legal experts who say that they don't believe this policy will actually
00:43address the root of the youth crime crisis.
00:45There's also concern that with longer sentencing that could lead to serious overcrowding in
00:50an already struggling detention system here in the state of Queensland.
00:54We've also heard from the Queensland Youth Services, it's an organisation that's based
00:58out of Townsville, they say they don't believe that this policy will actually deter young
01:02offenders and they say that more rehabilitation programs need to be put in place.
01:06Now the Premier, Stephen Miles, has said that and he's accused the opposition of effectively
01:12exploiting youth crime votes through this policy, however the LNP when making this announcement
01:18they were joined by the family of Violene White.
01:21She was an Ipswich grandmother that was fatally stabbed at a shopping centre car park back
01:26in February over an alleged robbery.
01:28Her daughter Cindy McAuliffe spoke to the media, she's backed the LNP policy and says
01:33that now is a time for change.
01:35When we first met with the Premier when he came here, he did a press conference not long
01:40after and he said, you know, this couldn't have been prevented.
01:44Well I'm really sorry but had these crappy laws not been in place, mum would be alive.
01:53Now Gemma, of course this has been quite divisive but as we expect in the lead up to the state
01:58election with less than four months away, a raft of these policies will continue to
02:03be announced from both sides.
02:05One thing is for certain, however, that this is certainly shaping up to be more of a race
02:08between the state opposition and the government as we head closer to October 26th.
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