The Australian state of Queensland has passed laws which will see children as young as 10 subject to the same penalties as adults if convicted of crimes such as murder, serious assault and break-ins.
The government says the harsher sentencing rules are in response to “community outrage over crimes being perpetrated by young offenders” and will act as a deterrent.
But many experts have pointed to research showing that tougher penalties do not reduce youth offending, and can in fact exacerbate it.
The United Nations has also criticised the reforms, arguing they disregard conventions on the human rights of children and violate international law.
The Liberal National Party (LNP) - which won the state election in October - made the rules a hallmark of its campaign, saying they put the “rights of victims” ahead of “the rights of criminals”
Queensland is the Texas of Australia so no surprise they’ve gone down this path. The newly elected conservative state government won on “hard on crime” bullshit rhetoric. Queensland has done this before and suffered the consequences of their actions; the same will happen again this time.
I hope so, because this has never felt moral or ethical to me.
It is gross and wrong on all levels. The hidden agenda in there relates to the colour of the youth offenders skin, which unsurprisingly is not white, just to add an extra layer of shittiness to the whole thing.
Every 10 years or so Queenslanders elect our republican equivalent because they’re bored. They send the entire state back 20 years, then they get tossed out for 10 years.
Cycle repeats.