Despite only having two days to prepare submissions last week,a total of 69 were made,with many from key stakeholders in the legal and youth justice space,who were highly critical of the laws and government efforts to enact them.
Many questioned government evidence around the need for the changes – first flagged in December after the alleged home-invasion murder of a Brisbane woman – prompting some pushback from both Labor and LNP MPs.
In a written submission,14 Queensland University of Technology academics called on the government to “do more” to work proactively with the community and non-government agencies during times of widely known summer offending peaks,including a boost to flexible support for young people.
The academics strongly opposed what they labelled a reactionary and draconian bill that was at odds with the government’soverarching youth justice strategy. Instead,they echoed the dozens of frontline groups and experts calling for a“smarter,not tougher” approach.
“Leadership,ultimately,is the ability to transform values and to promote changes that are collaborative,ethical and progressive,” the QUT submission states.