Shock report echoes KAP sentiments for Relocation Sentencing

Hinchinbrook MP and KAP Deputy Leader, Nick Dametto MP at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre

30 May 2023

A report published today by the Justice Reform Initiative highlights the ineffectiveness of Queensland’s traditional correctional and detention systems and supports principles of alterative detention models with a focus on alcohol and drug treatment.[1]

Hinchinbrook MP and Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Deputy Leader, Nick Dametto, said the report reinforced many of the same principles that would be achieved with KAP’s Relocation Sentencing Policy.

“Like every report, this one contains some positive and negative things, and there is a strong emphasis on the need for alternatives to the traditional detention model and the need to focus on alcohol and drug treatment, both of which make up the foundations for KAP’s Relocation Sentencing Policy,” Mr Dametto said.

“However, there are parts of it that KAP would never agree with such as raising the age of criminal responsibility and ‘embracing’ the human rights framework above other competing objectives.

“The data can be analysed in hundreds of different ways and I am certain the State Labor Government will cherry pick the parts of the report that support their misguided agenda.

“KAP’s ideology is to get child offenders away from the negative influences and vices they find in the cities with their regular peer groups and families.

“We believe that KAP’s youth crime policies satisfy both sides of the argument. It holds child offenders to account but also reforms them in a meaningful and therapeutic way setting them up to return to society where they can live productive, rewarding and crime free lives.”

The report was critical of traditional justice methods, claiming that Queensland’s adult prison population had increased by more than 44 per cent in the last 10 years. More children in Queensland are also reported to be incarcerated than in any other state in the country with an average of 267 children incarcerated each night.

In terms of cost, Queensland spends $1 billion annually on prison and detention facility expenses.

“The report calls out the Palaszczuk Government to adopt a smarter approach to justice reform and I couldn’t agree more,” Mr Dametto said.

“The time for change is now and it will take more than a cabinet reshuffle to fix this issue. The entire youth justice framework needs to be put in the scrap pile and built again from scratch.”

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[1]https://assets.nationbuilder.com/justicereforminitiative/pages/337/attachments/original/1685393777/JRI_Alternatives_QLD_FULL_REPORT.pdf?1685393777