Police numbers fall by a further 120 in five months
The thin blue line is becoming perilously thinner in Queensland, with shocking revelations frontline police numbers have dropped by a further 120 officers in just five short months.
An LNP Question on Notice to the Youth Justice Reform Select Committee Inquiry has exposed police numbers fell from 12,225 to 12,105 between June and November.
Alarmingly, in the past 18 months, Queensland’s police service has shrunk by 322 frontline officers, in the middle of a deadly Youth Crime Crisis.
This is despite Labor promising to deliver an additional 1450 frontline police by 2024.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said the Queensland Youth Crime Crisis was created by Labor’s weak laws and fewer police, and fuelled by their chaos and crisis.
“Queensland police numbers are in freefall while this Labor Government is consumed by their own survival,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“The only thing falling faster than police numbers is confidence in Labor to keep their election promises.
“Queenslanders deserve to have police on the ground to respond in the middle of a Youth Crime Crisis.
“It’s clear Labor is in chaos and crisis, they have the wrong priorities and don’t take youth crime seriously.
“There is no credible plan to deliver the police our community needs and was promised by this Labor Government.
“Labor’s promise of an additional 1450 police can’t be met and no one is being held accountable for the decline in community safety as a result.
“Only the LNP has the right priorities for Queensland’s future, including making our community safe.
"The LNP has put solutions on the table to start tackling Queensland’s Youth Crime Crisis, including creating consequences for actions, unshackling the judiciary by removing detention as a last resort and delivering gold standard early intervention.”
Queensland faces worst ambulance ramping in the nation, during Queensland Health Crisis
New analysis exposes the price of Labor’s chaos and crisis
Queensland paramedics have endured the worst start to a year on record, losing nearly 125,000 hours due to ambulance ramping, in the middle of the Queensland Health Crisis.
New data revealed in a Question on Notice shows paramedics lost 124,518 hours while ramped with patients between January and September this year.
Alarmingly, this equates to 46 crews off the road every day, unable to respond to Queenslanders’ urgent requests for help.
The data also shows August was the worst on record, with nearly 14,000 hours lost to ambulance ramping in one month alone.
Shadow Health Minister and Registered Nurse Ros Bates said the Queensland Health Crisis was continuing to worsen, with Queensland facing the worst ambulance ramping in the nation, under Labor’s chaos.
“While Labor has been focused on themselves, the Queensland Health Crisis has continued to impact Queenslanders and our hardworking paramedics,” Ms Bates said.
“After almost a decade in power and four different Health Ministers, our hardworking ambos are losing tens of thousands of hours stuck at the end of ramps.
"It's costing Queenslanders the treatment they deserve and health staff the ability to do their jobs.
"While paramedics are parked at the end of a ramp, a Queenslander desperately waits at the end of a phone.
“It means they can’t do their jobs and means patients are waiting too long for care.
“Our frontline staff are not the problem. They are going above and beyond to keep our health system on the rails.
“This is a crisis of Labor’s making but their failure to admit it exists has resulted in the startling figures Queenslanders are seeing today.
“Only the LNP has the right priorities for Queensland's future and that includes easier access to health services.
"We've also put solutions on the table to heal the Queensland Health Crisis including better resources, better triaging, sharing data in real-time and putting doctors and nurses back in charge to improve patient care.
“While Labor focuses on themselves, we’ll continue our fight to heal the Queensland Health Crisis.”
Peter Coaldrake said the importance of an independent Public Service is paramount.
Mr Coaldrake also pointed out that the tone is set from the top.
One of Steven Miles' first acts is to appoint former Labor MP Mike Kaiser as the Director-General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet - the head of the apolitical Public Service.
Mike Kaiser is a former Labor MP.
Mike Kaiser is a former State Secretary of the Australian Labor Party.
Mike Kaiser is a self confessed vote rorter.
To put someone with these blatant ties to Labor and a history of vote rorting is a sick joke and is a terrible tone to set for public servants.
This appointment, in the shadows of an election year, will have a chilling effect on our democracy.
If this appointment goes ahead, a former Labor MP, Labor State Secretary and Labor Campaign Director will be in charge of the resourcing of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition and maintain final approval over much of the messaging of the Opposition.
If this appointment goes ahead it will confirm Steven Miles has no interest in fixing the integrity issues of this tired third term Labor government.
Steven Miles is the unelected Premier because of a secret backroom deal with union bosses and now is attempting to politicise the public service.
Serious repeat youth offenders go from 10 to 20% in two years under Labor
Crimes committed by youth crims up across the State
A scathing new report into youth criminal court charges has exposed the Government has well and truly lost control of serious repeat youth offenders, who now make up 20% of the offender cohort.
The data reveals Labor’s youth crime laws have failed to arrest the Queensland Youth Crime Crisis and have done nothing to reduce the number of hardcore repeat youth offenders in Queensland, as promised.
The latest Childrens Court of Queensland report reveals 20% of youth criminals were responsible for 54.5% of charges before the Courts in the last 12 months, an increase from the previous year where 17% of young people accounted for 48% of charges.
The average number of charges for per youth offender grew by 15% and total crimes committed by young offenders in the past year skyrocketed, including:
The Labor Government repeatedly claimed their so-called "tough" new laws would specifically target repeat offenders, after their weak-on-crime approach had created Queensland’s Youth Crime Crisis.
Instead, new data shows the amount of juvenile serious repeat offenders has jumped to 20% in 2023 under Labor’s weak laws and fewer police.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said Labor's chaos and crisis had led to these shocking figures.
"More and more Queenslanders are living in fear due to the spiralling Youth Crime Crisis created by Labor,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“These numbers show a complete failure to deal with the current offenders through stronger laws and to stop the pipeline of young crims through early intervention.
"At a time when the State Government has used every waking hour counting numbers to do political deals it’s the repeat offender numbers that keep Queenslanders awake at night.
“The LNP has put solutions on the table to start tackling Queensland’s Youth Crime Crisis, including creating consequences for actions, unshackling the judiciary by removing detention as a last resort and delivering gold standard early intervention.”
"Our priority is making our communities safer while Labor is focused on themselves."
LNP demands Labor to go back to the drawing board
The Labor Government has announced it will now directly adopt the LNP’s policy and establish an Independent Infrastructure Delivery Authority for the Olympic and Paralympic Games despite fighting against it for two years.
If Labor is actually setting up an Independent Infrastructure Delivery Authority, the LNP is demanding Labor agrees to go back to the drawing board and start afresh when it comes to Games infrastructure.
The Independent Infrastructure Delivery Authority must be free to explore all options and ensure the Government can deliver the best results, infrastructure and value for all Queenslanders, while also delivering world-class facilities for the Games.
The LNP has also demanded that Steven Miles agree to release all documents relating to Labor’s plans to knockdown the Gabba.
LNP Deputy Leader Jarrod Bleijie said Labor’s chaos and crisis was costing Queenslanders and trashing the state’s reputation on the global stage.
“Delivering critical infrastructure across Regional and South-East Queensland must sit at the centre of any plans going forward to ensure the Games actually delivers for all Queenslanders no matter where they live,” Mr Bleijie said.
“We said we needed an Independent Infrastructure Delivery Authority for the Games two years ago.
“When Labor refused to listen, the LNP announced it would establish the body if it won the election in October next year.
“For two years Labor has fought against this position and instead focused on hoovering up all the decision-making power for themselves.
“That’s why we have seen the Gabba fiasco unfold.
"It's created uncertainty around a community, schools, an important medical precinct and sporting organisations who call the Gabba home.
“The LNP warned this would happen and it did.
“That’s why the LNP has never supported Labor’s Gabba knockdown plan because Queenslanders have never seen a business case and all options were never explored by an Independent Infrastructure Delivery Authority.
“Labor has completely wasted the last two years and has completely squandered what was initially Queensland’s long runway to the Games.
“For two years, Steven Miles and Cameron Dick have been the Ministers in charge of the Gabba fiasco and have failed to plan and deliver a single project for Queenslanders.
“Steven Miles is the architect of Labor’s Gabba knockdown plan and Cameron Dick is the Treasurer who signed off the extraordinary $2.7 billion of taxpayers’ money for the problem-prone project.
“Labor spent nearly $1 million on a Deloitte report to justify not setting up an Independent Infrastructure Delivery Authority.
“Just three weeks ago Steven Miles released Labor’s project validation report as he doubled down on the Gabba knockdown. Exactly what was it validating?
“Just two days ago Steven Miles’ hand-picked Director-General Mike Kaiser publicly stated he had provided ‘independent’ advice that Labor’s Gabba knockdown was still the best plan for Queenslanders and suddenly now it’s not?
“Labor should now have to release all documents relating to its Gabba knockdown plan because something is not adding up and Queenslanders know it.
“Under Labor the generational infrastructure Queenslanders were promised as part of the bid is nowhere to be seen.
“Labor has not announced a single road or rail project for the Games and Regional Queensland is missing out entirely.
“And if that wasn’t enough, Labor is now set to walk away from its plans for the Brisbane Live Arena despite securing a $2.5 billion investment from the Federal Government.
“The Gabba fiasco and Labor’s chaotic handling of the Games is on Steven Miles’ head, who will now do and say anything to survive while Labor is destroying themselves from the inside out.
“Labor needs to set up an Independent Infrastructure Delivery Authority and start again on the Olympic and Paralympic infrastructure plan.
“Queenslanders deserve better than Labor’s chaos and crisis.
“Queenslanders deserve a government that has the right priiorities for Queensland’s future.”
Scathing Auditor-General report reveals record-breaking failures
A damning new report has exposed the dire state of the Queensland Health Crisis with unwanted records broken for ramping, ambulance lost hours and surgery waitlists.
It comes amid the chaos and crisis that has engulfed the State Labor Government for the past nine years and the refusal to acknowledge the full extent of a health system in freefall.
The Auditor-General Report revealed:
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said the Auditor-General report was grim reading for Queensland patients and frontline staff in the middle of the Queensland Health Crisis.
“This is a catastrophic failure by the State Labor Government,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“Labor has never understood the enormity of the Queensland Health Crisis, and this report has unearthed just how strained the system has become.
“While Labor Ministers were plotting to undermine the Premier, Queensland Health was falling apart.
“Queenslanders have recently seen the heartbreaking and fatal consequences of ambulance ramping and until the Labor Government accepts the Queensland Health Crisis is real and takes responsibility for it, more families will fall victim of a system under immense pressure.
“Only the LNP has the right priorities for Queensland's future and that includes easier access to health services. We've also put solutions on the table to heal the Queensland Health Crisis including better resources, better triaging, sharing data in real-time and putting doctors and nurses back in charge to improve patient care.
“The State Government must start listening to our solutions and trust the experts.”
Shadow Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Ros Bates said Queensland Health had deteriorated because of the chaos and crisis within the State Labor Government.
“This scathing report has revealed the full extent of ambulance ramping, waitlist blowouts, missed targets and construction delays of satellite hospitals,” Ms Bates said.
“There are multiple fires burning through Queensland Health.
“Queenslanders can’t trust the State Labor Government to fix the Queensland Health Crisis.
“Shannon Fentiman promised the world to Queenslanders, but the results are in - and she’s failed spectacularly.
“After nine years, three terms and four Health Ministers, the State Labor Government has created the Queensland Health Crisis and they don’t have a plan to fix it.
“As a registered nurse and a former Hospital Administrator, I know our dedicated frontline staff are exhausted and work double shifts to keep the health system on the rails and ensure patient care is the top priority."
Queensland economy shrinking under Labor
The Treasurer has spent the last week counting factional numbers when his priority should have been managing the numbers that matter to Queenslanders.
Today’s budget update reveals that Labor’s debt, taxes and interest costs have never been higher.
In the 1,107 days since Cameron Dick’s first budget, he has now collected $66bn more from Queenslanders than what he originally forecast and Queenslanders have nothing but chaos and crisis to show for it.
Despite these revenue rivers of gold, household budgets have never been under more pressure and services have never been worse.
Queenslanders are facing the nation’s sharpest cost-of-living increases in the big bills on the kitchen table including insurance (15.9%), rents (9.5%) and health (7%).
Queensland’s growth per capita flatlined at 0% last year while every other state improved.
Queensland’s economy shrank last quarter while every other state grew.
And the only thing Labor is talking about is themselves.
Labor is oblivious to the lived experience of struggling Queenslanders, the people sleeping in tents, the communities living in terror and the ill ramped at hospitals.
Queenslanders know that nothing will change until Queenslanders change the government.
Confirms Queenslanders are paying the highest wholesale power prices in the country
A damning new report has laid bare serious failures by the Palaszczuk Labor Government that have resulted in Queensland’s wholesale electricity prices remaining the highest in the country.
The Auditor-General’s Report into Energy has raised serious questions about Labor’s ability to operate Queensland’s energy system after nearly a decade in office.
The report's findings include:
Shadow Energy Minister Pat Weir said these failures are driving up Queenslanders’ electricity bills in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
“Families are paying more for power because of Labor’s chaos and crisis,” Mr Weir said.
“The Palaszczuk Government has failed to properly manage Queensland’s electricity network and now families are paying the highest electricity prices in the nation.
"The report raises so many serious questions that Labor must answer.
“In a stunning revelation, a Government IT project has blown out by more than $700 million since its initial $238 million budget in 2016.
“The blowout also includes a $43 million write off for ‘components of the project that were no longer expected to deliver benefits’.
“The Auditor-General has outlined scathing failures that make a mockery of good governance in this State, including a termination benefit paid not in accordance with Government policy.
“Labor’s Mick de Brenni needs to be open and transparent with Queenslanders and explain how much and to who the termination payment was given to.
“Mick de Brenni also needs to tell Queenslanders who was given access to confidential internal systems and whether Ministerial offices were given inappropriate access.
“Most of all, the Premier and Mick de Brenni needs to take urgent action to lower power prices for Queenslanders who are doing it tough in a cost-of-living crisis.”
Direct Quotes from the Report:
Electricity prices
“Although Queensland’s average annual wholesale price decreased, Queensland and New South Wales had the highest electricity price in Australia in 2022–23” Page 13
IT Upgrade
“Energy Queensland has been implementing its digital transformation program since 2016. The complexity of integrating multiple systems has caused delays in implementing the asset management and payroll system components. The program was originally scoped with a budget of $238 million and due for completion in June 2020. The approved budget was revised to $717 million in 2022. The program is now expected to be completed in June 2026 with the revised scope and at an estimated cost of $952 million.” Page 1
The program has included “writing off $43 million for components of the project that were no longer expected to deliver benefits” Page 7
Link between project blowouts and reduced cost savings and financial returns to Queensland
“The delays and cost increases will affect the cost savings and the financial returns to the Queensland Government (the shareholder).” Page 8
Termination payment
Report identifies 2 significant deficiencies including
“A termination payment made to senior management was not in accordance with the Queensland government owned corporations policy on Chief and Senior Executive Employment Arrangements issued by Queensland Treasury. We also identified similar weaknesses in other public sector entities and we will report these in our upcoming state entities 2023 report to parliament.” Page 5
Data issues
“Energy sector entities need to strengthen the security over their systems and processes (internal controls).” Page 1
“Figure 3A highlights that internal control weaknesses over information systems represented the majority of the deficiencies we reported to management in 2022–23. The most common weaknesses we identified related to how users access systems (access management), and how automated controls or security settings are implemented (security configuration), including:
Damning Auditor-General report exposes Palaszczuk Labor Government failures
The Palaszczuk Labor Government’s failure to properly resource and run the Queensland Police Service has been exposed in a new damning report released by the Auditor-General.
Shockingly, despite big promises from Labor, police numbers are falling in Queensland.
Amid those falling police numbers under Labor, the state’s thinning blue line is also failing to respond to the critical calls for assistance, more officers are being pulled from frontline policing onto admin duties and Labor has no plan to deliver the police needed for community safety.
Queensland’s Auditor-General has found, under Labor, the “QPS does not have a strategic approach to workforce planning”, is “not meeting current demands for service”, has missed critical targets for Code 1 and Code 2 requests for help, and failed to attend 86,000 calls for service in a year.
Shocking findings made by the Auditor-General include:
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said the thin blue line was continuing to become thinner across Queensland, under the Palaszczuk Labor Government.
“Families should not be left living in fear of becoming the next victim of crime, because the thin blue line is getting thinner under Labor,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“Queenslanders deserve to be confident in an emergency a police officer will be able to respond, it is unimaginable thousands of calls for help have simply gone unanswered.
“The Auditor-General’s report points to a disastrous lack of leadership under Labor, which has left our police under-resourced and under-staffed, year after year.
“We are in the grip of a crime crisis because of Labor and now we know they have no plan, no strategy and no accountability to deliver the police Queensland needs.
“The LNP’s priority is making our community safer, including increasing the number of police on the beat.”
Shadow Police Minister Dale Last said the report exposed Labor’s lies and failure to keep Queenslanders safe.
“Responsibility for this chaos and crisis sits at the feet of the Police Minister, whose incompetence has now been woefully exposed.
“Mark Ryan claimed police numbers weren’t falling, when the truth is we have 202 fewer police.
“Mark Ryan cannot be trusted.
“Mark Ryan spent $26 million on a Service Delivery Program, before dumping it, without another plan in place, leaving communities without enough police on the beat.
“Queensland Police have been left to pick up the pieces of Labor’s chaos and crisis, after the Palaszczuk Labor Government left them without the resources they need to keep Queenslanders safe.”
Eight years since Labor created the Queensland Youth Crime Crisis
Today marks eight years since the Palaszczuk Labor Government watered-down Queensland youth crime laws, giving birth to a Youth Crime Crisis that grips Queensland today.
In 2015, the Palaszczuk Government amended the Youth Justice Act, removing breach of bail, imposing detention as a last resort, abolishing boot camps and rendering child criminal histories inadmissible in court.
As a result, crime has soared across the State with the number of Serious Repeat Youth Offenders skyrocketing.
Eight years on and Labor’s decision has resulted in:
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said Queenslanders had paid a high price for Labor watering-down our youth crime laws.
“Queenslanders are now living in fear while youth criminals no longer fear the law,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“This decision created a generation of untouchables who flaunt their crime in the face of the law.
“It’s not only break-ins, stolen cars and damaged businesses, it’s lives being torn apart in our communities across the State.
“It’s families worried about going to sleep at night only to wake to intruders.
“It’s businesses unable to reopen because of the cost of crime.
“It’s tradies who can’t work because their vehicle has been stolen, only to be written-off.
“Our priority is making our community safer, because it’s Queenslanders’ priority.
“That starts with restoring consequence for action at the heart of the Youth Justice Act.”
Shadow Police Minister Dale Last said Labor’s weak on crime approach was having real impacts across Queensland.
“Labor’s ‘soft-on-crime’ laws are impacting Queenslanders every day,” Mr Last said.
“Fewer police and weak laws have led to the Queensland Youth Crime Crisis gripping our state today.
“Our hardworking police are under-resourced and under-staffed, unable to keep up with Labor’s growing crime crisis.”
Acting Shadow Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said Queenslanders were demanding genuine change to end the crime crisis.
“Queenslanders are frustrated Labor created this crisis and now they’re out of ideas to tackle it,” Ms Frecklington said.
“Labor was warned watering-down crime laws would have consequences for Queenslanders, but they refused to listen and today we are paying a high price.
“The LNP’s priority is making our community safer with more police, rewriting the Youth Justice Act, reforming early intervention, ensuring judges can impose sentences that reflect community expectations and fixing the Child Safety system to prevent vulnerable kids heading down a path of crime.”
