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Queensland’s opposition leader David Crisafulli has called for an overhaul of the state’s child protection system, describing it as a “state sanctioned pipeline of youth criminals”.
Crisafulli told party faithful at the Liberal National Party’s state convention in Brisbane on Sunday that the Labor government had taken “blame shifting and hypocrisy to a new level” by pointing the finger at parents for youth crime.
He said the government was the “biggest parent in the state”, responsible for 11,500 children subject to protection arrangements, including more than 1,700 in out-of-home residential care.
Earlier this week, child safety advocates raised the alarm over what they described as the Queensland government’s over-reliance on residential care. It came after Churches of Christ, a major provider of youth residential services, announced it would end its contracts with the state government.
But they also warned against conflating the issues of residential care and youth justice.
Crisafulli said 58% of children who had an interaction with the youth justice system were also known to the department of child safety.
Photograph: Darren England/AAP
“The government cannot blame carers and guardians solely, when the kids they are responsible for are so poorly cared for,” he said.
“This cannot go on. We won’t allow it to go on..”
Crisafulli said he had written to stakeholders and invited them to parliament, where he and the LNP spokesperson for child safety, Amanda Camm, will host a forum on the issue.
He said he was “open-minded on the solutions” but said he will insist on targets to address “personal responsibility”, attending school and taking part in an curricular activity, employment training for older children and transitioning those in residential care into foster care.
Photograph: Darren England/AAP
“Together with the best minds we will chart a course designed to repair Queensland’s broken residential care system and start giving these kids a chance at a decent life,” he said.
“Together, we must turn off the state sanctioned pipeline of youth criminals.”
Crisafulli’s said this work would go hand-in-hand with the party’s policies on youth justice, which includes further funding for early intervention programs. He noted deputy Leader Jarrod Bleijie had written to the auditor-general asking him to conduct a comprehensive audit of Queensland’s exisiting programs, which is already underway.
PeakCare Queensland’s executive director, Tom Allsop, said last week the number of children in residential care in the state was on the rise, and exceeds any other Australian state or territory.
“We know for the majority of children, residential care is not the best model for their care and developmental needs,” he said.
Allsop was also concerned about the conflation of residential care with youth justice.
“Only a small minority of children in residential care have had contact with the youth justice system,” he said.
Crisafulli’s speech – the headline event on the final day of the convention – outlined his priorities ahead of the October 2024 election: rising cost of living, the housing affordability crisis, issues in the state’s health system, including lengthy waits in emergency departments and for an ambulance, and the growing elective surgery waitlist.
It also urged unity among the party’s ranks.
“We can’t fight every battle in Queensland. So, we will fight the battles that matter to Queensland. We will win the battles that matter to Queenslanders,” he said.
The party debated dozens of resolutions during the convention, including a push to ban “gender dysphoria surgery” for children, and a move to make the ABC a “patriotic” broadcaster.
Others included a push to audit “sexually explicit materials” in Queensland state schools and a move towards nuclear power.
The resolutions – most of which were debated behind closed doors – are not binding on the party.
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