Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, I was invited to a community meeting in Bridgeman Downs in Petrie, my electorate, about the increase in youth crime. Residents in that community are living in fear, having been the victims of a range of brazen crimes in their homes. I heard many stories, from people like Kym, Vinod, Lyn and Cathy. One resident said: 'I've been broken into at 8 am in the morning. They smashed the glass of our front door and ransacked the house while the alarms went off. They continued to stay there.' Delia, another resident, said: 'We, the community, are not satisfied. We are disappointed and we are scared.' Some residents are now so traumatised and fearful that they don't want to even share their first name. We will never forget Boxing Day last year, when a North Lakes family's home was broken into by a group of four young offenders, which ended in the murder of a young mother.

State Labor MPs have been warned about these incidents and invited to these meetings, but they do not show up. Who did show up? The Leader of the Opposition, David Crisafulli MP, because the state Liberal National Party cares about the safety and wellbeing of Queenslanders and want youth crime addressed. The Labor government have failed in their responsibility to turn around the alarming rise in crime.

To the residents of Bridgeman Downs: keep working together. Stay connected. Thanks for working for a better Bridgeman Downs community.