David Crisafulli says the state’s latest crime figures are “a step in the right direction”, with stolen vehicle and break-and-enter offences 8 per cent lower than 12 months ago.
David Crisafulli says the state’s latest crime figures are “a step in the right direction”, with stolen vehicle and break-and-enter offences 8 per cent lower than 12 months ago.
By Catherine Strohfeldt
February 16, 2025 — 3.30pm
Premier David Crisafulli has praised his government’s youth crime law reforms after revealing a “good fall” in property offences across the Christmas period.
The statewide crime rate for property offences committed from November to the end of January fell by about 2.3 per cent year-on-year, while stolen vehicle and break-and-enter offences specifically fell by about 8 per cent.
Speaking on Sunday from Brisbane – where the property crime rate decreased by 4.6 per cent during the same period – Crisafulli said the falls were a promising sign that his government’s youth crime law reforms were working.
“When it comes to break-and-enters and stolen cars, the vast majority are young offenders,” he said, adding there was also “a good fall” in assault and theft rates.
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“When I see the number of offences overall across those four key areas for the first time coming down, it’s a step in the right direction, but we’ve got a long way to go,” he said.
Queensland Police data revealed that 49 per cent of offenders charged during that period for unlawful entry were juveniles, while minors also accounted for 49.8 per cent of those charged for using a stolen vehicle.
From 2020 to 2024, the data showed young Queensland offenders accounted for 52 per cent for both of those offences.
In Brisbane from November to the end of last month, minors accounted for 54 per cent of recorded robberies, 19 per cent of assaults, 41 per cent of unlawful entries, and 45 per cent of unlawful use of motor vehicle offences.
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Speaking on Friday to the ABC, Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said while there had been a 2 per cent reduction in overall property crime so far this year, it came from “a very high base”.
He said the rate of personal crime – which includes robbery and assault – was rising year-on-year, with about 90 more offences recorded last month compared with January last year.
Deputy opposition leader Cameron Dick took aim at the government’s announcement, saying youth offences had actually increased since the new government was elected last year.
“It is bizarre today that David Crisafulli is relying on adult crime statistics to somehow prove that youth crime is down,” Dick said.
Crisafulli said his metric for crime data was primarily victim numbers, reflecting his election promise to reduce per-capita crime rates before the end of his government’s four-year term.
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“I’ll never walk away from victim numbers. I’ve been pretty upfront about that, and year-on-year, you are going to see … we will be held accountable for victim numbers,” he said.
After delivering the LNP’s first youth crime law reforms in December – under which children could be sentenced as adults for several offences – the government unveiled its youth crime “expert panel” last week.
The five-member committee was tasked with reviewing and strengthening the state’s new youth crime laws, including which offences should be added to the government’s “Adult Time, Adult Crime” list.
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