We Don’t Answer to the UN: Queensland Premier Defends Expansion of ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ Laws

‘You focus on the things you control, and I’ll look at things that I control,’ said Queensland Premier David Crisafulli to the UN.

The United Nations headquarters in New York on Sept. 19, 2019. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Queensland LNP Premier David Crisafulli has pushed back on U.N. concerns about the state’s move to strengthen criminal laws against youth offending.

On May 21, the second tranche of “Adult Crime, Adult Time” laws passed the Australian state parliament, expanding the penalties on 20 offences including attempted murder, rape, arson, aggravated attempted robbery, and kidnapping.

With the change, children as young as 10 could face adult jail time if they violate any of the 33 offences outlined in the laws.

The second wave of laws follows the Queensland government’s announcement of a notable reduction in youth crime three months after the first set of Adult Crime, Adult Time legislation was enacted in December 2024.

While the laws have achieved results, they continued to draw criticism from the United Nations.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Queensland Premier David Crisafulli speak at a press conference at the Kedron State Emergency headquarters in Brisbane, Australia on March 5, 2025. AAP Image/Jono Searle

In a recent statement, U.N. special rapporteur against torture, Alice Jill Edwards, and special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples, Albert K Barume, expressed concerns that the government’s current approach would create a “future underclass of Australians.”

“The first goal should always be keeping children out of prison. We are extremely concerned that present approaches are creating a future under-class of Australians,” they said.

“Juvenile facilities should prioritise education and rehabilitation to support childhood development. Criminal justice reform alone does not result in fewer anti-social or criminal behaviours.

“Children are suffering undue harm to their safety and well-being, as well as to their educational and life prospects as a result of short-sighted approaches to youth criminality and detention.”

We Don’t Answer to the UN: Queensland Premier

During a press conference on May 21, Crisafulli said his government did not take orders from the UN.

“Here’s my message to the United Nations: you don’t control me, and I don’t answer you.” he told reporters.

“I answer to Queenslanders. I answer to a whole heap of those people back there who’ve had their lives turned apart.

“I say to the United Nations–We make laws to deal with one of the biggest issues the state has ever faced … You focus on the things you control, and I’ll look at things that I control.”

Adult Crime, Adult Time was a key pledge by the Liberal National Party during the 2024 state election, and the government says more work will be done.

“This will not be the last round of changes. There will be more to come,” Crisafulli said.

“Every change we make will be about strengthening the laws, not weakening them.

“I made a commitment that we would allow them [legal experts] to provide advice free from political interference and we would enable them to continue to do that while they had work to do.”

Local residents have been calling for harsher penalties for young offenders following many high-profile offences in the state, including the fatal stabbing of a 70-year-old grandmother by a 16-year-old boy.

A police car at a crime scene in Cairns, Australia, on Dec. 20, 2014. Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

States Take Stronger Measures Against Youth Crime

Queensland is not the only Australian state that has recently taken a tougher stance on youth crime.

In April 2025, the Northern Territory parliament passed new bail laws, making it harder for individuals charged with serious offences to be granted bail after a supermarket owner in Darwin was stabbed to death by a teenager.

Victoria and New South Wales also strengthened their bail laws for young offenders in March.

In a recent development, the Victorian government announced that it would spend $700 million (US$450 million) to expand the state’s prison system to quell the surging crime wave.

These policies come amid a broader repudiation of long-standing criminology theories that focus on rehabilitation over punishment.

In fact, The Epoch Times’ editorial series, How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World, has pointed out how legal systems have for years given “undue weight to prisoners’ rights—no matter the severity of their crimes.”

“A person has the right and freedom to choose his ideas, speech, and actions. He also needs to be responsible for his own choices,” the series says. “Once a person has committed a crime, he should be punished accordingly. This is the principle of justice.”

“Liberal judges ... encourage people to shirk their responsibilities and shift accountability to prevailing social conditions, such as their economic or racial background, physical and mental health, education, and other demographic parameters, allowing criminals to escape legal punishment,” the book says.