The Liberal National party leader, David Crisafulli, has promised to introduce “mandatory isolation periods” for children who assault workers in youth detention, as the Queensland opposition formally launched its state election campaign on Sunday.
Speaking to a crowd of LNP candidates and party faithful in Ipswich, Crisafulli focused much of his remarks on what he has dubbed the state’s “youth crime crisis”.
The opposition leader was introduced by Cindy Micallef, the daughter of a stabbing victim, Vyleen White.
Crisafulli announced a new detention policy, dubbed “detention with purpose”, which he said would include “minimum isolation periods for youth who commit assault in detention”.
Experts have long been concerned at the extent of the use of “separation” in Queensland’s youth detention centres and believe the practice is a key reason why 96% of children reoffend after release.
Guardian Australia revealed last year that some children held at the Cleveland youth detention centre in Townsville were receiving little or no education or rehabilitation programs, largely due to the amount of time they were held in solitary confinement.
Crisafulli said his plan would be to make education “compulsory” in youth detention. He told reporters afterwards that stronger punishments for assaulting workers would help to attract more workers and in turn reduce the extent to which children were isolated due to staff shortages.
He also said the LNP would introduce a “privilege-based system” and that televisions in cells, for instance, would be a reward for good behaviour.
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“If the state is taking over responsibility for their care, we must make sure they use their time to become better people, not better criminals,” he said.
“[Youth crime] is a topic this government hasn’t wanted to speak about the entire campaign,” he said.
In front of a crowd of about 150 loyalists, Crisafulli implored Queenslanders “wherever they live, whatever they do, however they’ve voted before … to vote for a fresh start”.
Outside the venue, union and pro-choice protesters called on candidates and others attending to “tell us how you’re going to vote” on abortion, amid speculation of a conscience vote to restrict abortion rights in the next parliament.
Crisafulli and the LNP have repeatedly said they have “ruled out” changes to the state’s 2018 laws that decriminalised abortion but candidates have all refused to say how they would vote if a reform bill came before the next parliament.
The deputy opposition leader, Jarrod Bleijie, joked that the protesters “went a little quiet earlier so I went out and gave them a wave”.
Bleijie predicted intensifying attacks in the final week of the campaign, with polls tightening slightly but still pointing to a comfortable LNP win.
“The union movement, I’d say they haven’t even started yet. The money they’ll spend in the next few days to cling to power, you’ve seen nothing like it before.”