Queensland Crime Capital of Australia
I was speaking with Earl from Eagle Heights at my Mobile Office on Macdonnel Road last week about his concerns over local crime rates, especially robberies and break-and-enters. It’s a concern many have raised with me, along with the thin police presence locally. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed 289,657 Queenslanders were victims of crime in 2023, including 34,000 break-ins into people’s homes. Vehicle thefts hit 18,000, compared to 11,673 in NSW and 15,957 in Victoria – despite both states having larger populations than Queensland.
This is why the LNP and Leader David Crisafulli are consistenly raising crime, and youth crime, as an issue. Our state needs tougher criminal laws for our judges to work with, and better backing for our police to enforce the law. If elected to Government, our Making Our Community Safer laws will be enacted before Christmas.
Clearly, Earl is not alone with his concerns. No victim of crime is “just a number”. These horrific statistics should ring alarm bells for all of us in terms of the impact crime is having on our sense of safety in the community and the costs that arise because of crime (insurance premiums, health issues and others).
Government’s Callide Power Station Fiasco
Over 3 years ago, an explosion at the Callide state-owned power station took more than 10% of Queensland’s electricity supply out of the system. Power prices have surged since, more in Queensland than anywhere else in Australia. The Government refused for 2 years to release the independent Brady Report about why this explosion happened.
Last week, the truth emerged in Federal Court proceedings – revealing that Government directives to save money (and consistent scraping of this company for money to prop up the Government’s budget) resulted in maintenance being missed. After contributing to the disaster, the Government tried to cover up the truth.
We are all paying the price for the Government’s mismanagment through our power bills, and still, nobody has been held accountable. The Minister should be sacked, but like most of the Ministers in this nearly 10 year old Government, nobody ever takes responsibility. I’ve heard all the excuses from this tired Labor Government – Canberra, COVID, Campbell Newman, Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. Anybody but the people actually in charge of things cop the blame from Labor.
The people of Queensland get an opportunity to hold them accountable, starting in 100 days from now with early voting in the 2024 Queensland election.
