Katter’s Australian Party | All Rights Reserved. Unusually for a police operation, the announcement that the “flying squad” was on its way to Townsville for “Operation Sierra Silhouette” was made by the minister, Mark Ryan, and Labor’s Townsville-based MPs, not the Queensland Police Service. The notion of a crimewave is greatly overblown, the evidence suggests. The Griffith University criminologist Tarah Hodgkinson says this probably reflects a change to policing strategy, rather than a raw increase in drug crime. “Where it could have an impact is the way it plays out with preferences,” Newlands says. The opposition leader, Deb Frecklington, announced her youth crime policies in Townsville in early September, alongside a man who said he had been a victim of crime 11 times. Last year, the Palaszczuk government performed an effective about-face on planned youth justice reforms. Bob Katter’s vote has become more important in parliament since the resignation of Craig Kelly from the Liberal Party Caitlan Charles , Townsville Bulletin February 25, 2021 12:00am It’s really dangerous … there’s been plenty of examples of children being identified through photos or locations. Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is a conservative political party in Australia.It was founded by Bob Katter, the independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral Commission in 2011.. Katter has been re-elected under the party's label at the 2013, 2016 and 2019 federal elections. Crime statistics show a large contributor to high crime rates in Townsville are drug offences, which have increased 162% in the 15 years to 2019. The reforms were designed to reduce the number of incarcerated children via diversionary programs and other measures. “The other problem in Townsville is that it’s a racially polarised community and this crime stuff ties into that.”. The policy is similar to an LNP proposal at the 2017 state election to trial a 10:00pm curfew on children under 16 in Townsville. Crime and embellishment in Townsville: ... One Nation and Katter’s Australia party have each announced populist “tough on crime” policies to more severely punish young offenders. In June, as pressure for a hardline approach mounted in places like Townsville, the government passed new laws that were designed to lock more youths up, by denying bail to repeat offenders. We chat with Tanika today, a North Queenslander through and through. They’re charging kids stealing a boiled lolly and a can of Coke. Blake Antrobus NCA NewsWire October 31, 2020 4:05pm The study – which looked at the Townsville Crime, Alerts and Discussions page and three others – suggested these social media groups furthered populist “tropes” that crime rates are soaring, the criminal justice system is weak or loaded in favour of criminals, that courts should impose tougher penalties, and that victims want retribution. “You’ve got One Nation, the Katters, Clive Palmer’s party all running candidates. We’ve seen an increase in incarceration, particularly of marginalised communities, and we’ve seen that that doesn’t work. There’s only a small percentage that are mucking up in the streets.”. Katter’s Australian Party call for Mark Ryan, Leanne Linard to live in Townsville for two weeks Caitlan Charles , Townsville Bulletin January 15, 2021 12:00am Box 1022, Townsville, QLD, 4810. Hodgkinson says claims that crime is “out of control” could be damaging for communities and hinder efforts to address problems. Ahead of the state election on 31 October, Labor, the Liberal National party, One Nation and Katter’s Australia party have each announced populist “tough on crime” policies to more severely punish young offenders. The Townsville suburban electorate of Mundingburra, where the Labor MP Coralee O’Rourke is retiring, is considered a bellwether. a “crucible” for statewide criminal justice policy, named after [the slave trader] Robert Towns, involved in dangerous high-speed pursuits, a 2018 study on social media, vigilantism and Indigenous people, held in solitary confinement for days without running water, being held for extended periods in police watch houses, reduce the number of incarcerated children, scrapped after a report found they were too costly. “It amplifies [crime] in the sense of people see it as a problem that’s greater than what the data would necessarily indicate,” Cunneen told Guardian Australia. I don’t think we should be silencing those discussions about issues in communities, but what can we be doing about them that is more evidence based and more effective? Personal He received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Property Economics from the … Our kids had calmed down with intervention by respected elders, grassroots elders, and they’ve turned their lives around. FEATURED VIDEO. |, Bob Katter urges Attorney General not to appeal the Federal Courts Indonesia live export ruling, Cardwell dredge project needs priority funding. Maxine Newlands, a political scientist at James Cook University in Townsville, said campaigning about crime was “low hanging fruit” for the LNP and minor parties, but that messaging tended mostly to reinforce the views of right-leaning voters. The local narrative that irredeemable (mainly Indigenous) offenders are terrorising law-abiding (mainly white) citizens in Townsville has been amplified by some politicians, police, residents and media outlets for the past decade. National Party Spokesman on Defence and Northern Development from 30.4.1987 to 6.8.1987. Using a really thoughtful planned strategy you can effect real change.”. Video has shown them involved in dangerous high-speed pursuits. On the eve of the Queensland election campaign, a “flying squad” of specialist police officers from Brisbane has been sent to round up known repeat offenders in the northern city of Townsville, where the government holds three marginal seats. “But I guess where I differ from some of them is that I don’t want the kids who broke in here to suffer as payback or whatever. “That’s the problem, a lack of any political leadership in terms of challenging those crime narratives. The local newspaper, the Townsville Bulletin, has dubbed its own city “Crimsville”, saying it is the state’s “undisputed crime capital”. Mark David Chong, a Townsville-based criminologist at James Cook University, says that in the longer term, increases to total crime have been relatively insignificant. And the result is recycled punitive policy ideas that experts say are proven failures. “We know [problems are caused by] a small group of families, the government has known that for decades, but instead of working with communities in a way that supports them, it’s always been an incarceration position ... when you do that they’re going to hate authority more and more. In Toowoomba, 12 per 100. Phone: (07) 4401 5037 Office Hours: 9:00am – 5:00pm Mon-Fri Address: 2/321 Sturt Street, Townsville QLD Postal Address: P.O. Jenny*, a Townsville resident, says her home in the suburb of Gulliver has been broken into three separate times in the past year. Preferences will be key.”. “You can throw whatever statistics you want out there, but when you are a victim and someone kicks down your door, what difference does the crime rate make?” she says. I’m over these conservative people who don’t know our people, who don’t know unresolved grief, loss and trauma.”. Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor government performed an effective about-face on planned youth justice reforms in 2019. The LNP’s rhetoric has been consistent for several years – the deputy opposition leader, Tim Mander, gave a speech to parliament in 2016 claiming “this little bit of paradise is being overrun by criminals”. I’d just like it not to happen again.”. The party says victims in communities, that have experienced crime rates 25 per cent higher than state average, for six consecutive months should be able to claim damages. She did not want to be named. Police have raised alarm about escalating vigilante behaviour in Townsville and the prevalence of semi-organised street patrols, including mostly young white men who drive around looking for stolen cars. When the LNP government under Campbell Newman passed stricter youth justice laws in 2014, the largest of these groups – Townsville Crime, Alerts & Discussions – was cited in parliament as representative of the community. “I think that’s common that there becomes a sort of local narrative that doesn’t necessarily fit with the larger data. No one I know will support that [the idea that the crime crisis is exaggerated]. Every time a car is stolen, the incident is amplified on the crime alerts Facebook group with 48,000 members – more than a quarter of the Townsville population. Party positions. In Cairns the rate is 13 per 100. The LNP plans to introduce mandatory detention for a third offence, and measures that would mean youth criminal records are not expunged in adulthood. Can Annastacia Palaszczuk hold on to 'fortress Queensland' in the Covid election? A Katter's Australian Party-commissioned poll shows that a majority of Townsville residents would support a state of North Queensland in a referendum. Criminologists say Townsville has become a “crucible” for statewide criminal justice policy – the result of perceptions about a crime crisis in the city combined with the relative political importance of its electorates. National Drought Summit: "In 45 years I've been through 400 … Address: 2/321 Sturt Street, Townsville QLD Postal Address: P.O. “It does appear there are strategies that aren’t currently working. Delegate to the National Party Central Council. Party Leader Rob Katter has highlighted the high rates of crime for unlawful entry offences in Cairns, Townsville and Mount Isa in December 2020. His father is Bob Katter, the federal member for Kennedy and founder of Katter's Australian Party, and his grandfather Bob Katter Sr. was also a federal MP. Overall crime rates have increased marginally in Townsville over about 20 years; the total rate is 14 offences each year for every 100 people. “I am so furious about the exaggeration, because there’s crime everywhere,” says the academic and Townsville-based Indigenous activist Gracelyn Smallwood. But the result is recycled punitive policies that experts say are proven failures, Last modified on Sat 26 Sep 2020 21.02 BST. Labor needed LNP preferences to beat the One Nation candidate in the western suburbs seat of Thuringowa at the last election. This provides an opening for Katter's Australian Party, which believes Thuringowa is its best chance for picking up another seat in Parliament. But evidence suggests the notion of an unending crimewave or “exploding” problem has been greatly overblown. But Townsville is a real redneck place, named after [the slave trader] Robert Towns. Concerns have also been raised about the role of Townsville’s remarkably large social media anti-crime communities, which have evolved into some of the state’s most influential lobby groups. No expert disputes that crime is a problem in Townsville, where the rate of offending is marginally higher than other regional areas in Queensland. Everyone knows someone who has been a victim. They are pitched at voters in Townsville. “We need to be getting away from this top-down ‘tough on crime’ approach and more towards working with communities around building local capacity. It’s a question about political leadership and it’s bloody difficult where you’ve got those marginal electorates where people have an impression about crime.”. But over the same period, certain “signal crimes” – a term to describe offences that create a disproportionate amount of public fear such as sexual offences, robbery and car theft – had all increased. The rate of break-ins has halved since 2001. Delegate to the National Party State Conference from 1968 to 1973. The state had been rocked by reports of minors being held in solitary confinement for days without running water and problems with overcrowding that resulted in young children being held for extended periods in police watch houses. Katter was born on 3 March 1977 in North Queensland. Party Leader Rob Katter has highlighted the high rates of crime for unlawful entry offences in Cairns, Townsville … Address: 2/321 Sturt Street, Townsville, QLD 4810, Phone: (07) 4401 5037Office Hours: 9:00am – 5:00pm Mon-Fri Address: 2/321 Sturt Street, Townsville QLDPostal Address: P.O. “It’s all about the law and order option, who is going to get in power, instead of really showing some courage and leadership. Box 1022, Townsville, QLD, 4810 ‘A little bit ludicrous’ But Katter’s Australian Party MP Nick Dametto said today’s curfew announcement would turn police into “pound officers”. One member recently posted in the group about four Indigenous people who “appear to be casing houses and cars”. “The vigilantism is out of control and the media lays right over the top of that and drives a fundamentally racist agenda.”. Katter’s Australian party and One Nation are also pushing for the re-establishment of boot camps, which were introduced by the Newman government and later scrapped after a report found they were too costly and did not reduce rates of reoffending. But academics, justice activists and local Indigenous community leaders have questioned the crime hysteria that has underpinned the political debate. He received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Property Economics from the … The page is moderated by a large group of community members, who have said previously they intend to function like a neighbourhood watch and do not tolerate vigilante behaviour or racist comments. His father is Bob Katter, the federal member for Kennedy and founder of Katter's Australian Party, and his grandfather Bob Katter Sr. was also a federal MP. Katter was born on 3 March 1977 in North Queensland. President of the Young Nationals local branch. The LNP plans to introduce mandatory detention for a third offence as part of its youth crime policies. Piling into Palaszczuk: LNP gambles by targeting premier in Queensland election, Queensland LNP frontbencher tells new citizens not to bring problems to Australia. Smallwood says the police have been “ramping up”. Chair of the National Party Water Resources Committee (Qld.). “[Social media posts] often identify a problem with a particular group of people – Aboriginal kids. Born in Townsville, raised in the Cape and then returning to Townsville for boarding school and university, Tanika is a Registered Nurse who cares deeply about the community and Queensland’s north. But, under his proposal only victims in the Cairns District would be eligible for compensation if their car had been unlawfully used due to sustained crime rates for six months in a row. “There’s just as much crime in Brisbane. There’s vigilantes trying to run over our little innocent black children in the street. Prof Chris Cunneen, a criminologist at James Cook University in nearby Cairns, co-authored a 2018 study on social media, vigilantism and Indigenous people, which concluded that community anti-crime pages fuelled moral panic and contained “overtly racialised content”. A Townsville man has been escorted from a polling booth by police for calling a Katter Australia Party candidate a Nazi. The opposition also says it will scrap youth bail houses and trial five “community payback farms”. Box 1022, Townsville, QLD, 4810. The inner-city seat of Townsville was won by Labor in 2017 by about 200 votes. Tanika lives in Mowbray with her partner Doug.Tanika's top three priorities for the Douglas Shire are :Tourism Jobs – … Property crime – the sort most complained about on Facebook pages and in local media articles – has declined consistently since 2001. A Townsville man has been escorted from a polling booth by police for calling a Katter Australia Party candidate a Nazi. The Townsville Bulletin has dubbed its own city ‘Crimsville’, saying it is Queensland’s ‘undisputed crime capital’, but academics question that perception. “They’re always stereotyping black children. Katter’s Australian Party Traeger MP Robbie Katter said the government had other options, including rushing through an emergency bill, similar to that done during COVID-19. Katter takes Terri Irwin on tour of North Queensland History... Bob Katter on flying foxes: "We want to get rid of them, not study them", © Copyright 2021. “What does a number mean to me when I’m having to buy new locks again? “All of this stuff is just a constant recycling old ideas,” Cunneen says. “They’re doing more now because of the Black Lives Matter campaign. Deb Frecklington and her deputy Tim Mander. Debbie Kilroy, the chief executive of the prisoner advocacy service Sisters Inside, says local concern about crime is “amped up rubbish”.