The shocking cost of vandalism inside Queensland’s two youth detention centres has been exposed in a Question on Notice from the LNP.
The documents show Queenslanders are being slugged more than $50,000 a month to repair property damage caused by young offenders in youth detention centres in Townsville and Brisbane.
LNP Leader Deb Frecklington said Annastacia Palaszczuk needed to explain why thousands of dollars of taxpayer money is being wasted on fixing vandalism caused by youth offenders who are out of control.
“Slugging taxpayers for this obscene waste of money is just another example of how out-of-touch Annastacia Palaszczuk is,” Ms Frecklington said.
“Queensland taxpayers should not have to foot the bill to fix TVs and air conditioners for young violent offenders.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk needs to stop being soft on crime and start sending a clear message to these offenders if you smash a TV or an air-conditioner, it won’t be fixed.
“No wonder youth crime continues to increase when we have a revolving door youth justice system and detention centres that are out of control.”
LNP Shadow Attorney-General David Janetzki said the damage bill was clear evidence the youth justice system is in crisis.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill because Labor has lost control of our youth detention centres,” Mr Janetzki said.
“How can Annastacia Palaszczuk claim to be rehabilitating these offenders when her government can’t even control them in detention?
“Sadly, it’s clear that Labor is too soft and too spineless to deal with this situation effectively.”
