The former premier of Queensland, Campbell Newman, will pressure current state MPs to take action on criminal activity—if he is elected to the Senate—after residents in Brisbane were forced to hire private security to patrol their neighbourhoods.
Incidents of youth crime have increased across the state with one notable incident involving former rugby union star Toutai Kefu, who’s family experienced a violent home invasion at the hands of several teenagers in August 2021.
On May 16, news emerged that residents in the wealthy, inner-north part of Brisbane—Ascot, Clayfield, and Hamilton—had decided to band together to hire private security companies to patrol the leafy suburbs from 9 p.m. to sunrise each day.
“People are sick and tired of home invasions, getting their cars stolen, having people trespass on their properties during the night and they’ve just had enough,” Randall Hughes, managing director of the 24-7 Group, told ABC radio in Brisbane on May 17. He added that while state police were doing their job, they “can’t be everywhere.”
Newman, now the Queensland Senate candidate for the Liberal Democrats, said he was “horrified” by the incidents and the extent residents had to go to to protect themselves.
“I ask the question, ‘What is Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk doing about this? Or the Minister for Police Mark Ryan? Or the Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll?’” he said in a statement sent to The Epoch Times. “More specifically, what is the [Liberal National Party] Member for Clayfield Tim Nicholls doing about this?”
Newman resigned from the Liberal National Party last year over its support of COVID-19 lockdowns and health restrictions.
“Residents of these suburbs are pitching in to cover private security, but this is only a band-aid fix,” he said. “I question what residents will do if they’re not from Brisbane’s wealthy suburbs and cannot afford these patrols.”
The former Queensland leader pledged to step up the pressure on the state government if he were elected.
Current state opposition leader David Crisafulli has spoken out on crime sprees in regional areas of Queensland including Townsville, Kirwan, Mundingburra, and Deeragun, saying that over the month of May, 78 cars were stolen and there were 307 cases of unlawful entry.
Dale Last, the shadow police minister claimed the incumbent Labor government was “Brisbane-centric” and diverted funds to the capital.
“What more will it take for the Premier to see how bad the situation is in North Queensland,” he said. “The short term and long term data speaks for itself.”
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