High-risk domestic violence offenders will be forced to wear ankle-bracelets under Crisafulli
Domestic violence offenders will be tracked with ankle-monitoring bracelets if the Liberal National Party wins government in Queensland.
Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli is seen speaking at the Tourism and Transport Forum’s Leadership QLD 2024: Tourism, Aviation and Transport Summit, in Brisbane, Thursday, August 29, 2024. (AAP Image/Darren England) NO ARCHIVING
LNP Leader David Crisafulli has kept a hard line stance on offending ahead of the October 26 state poll after vowing to stand down as premier if crime numbers did not fall under his watch.
Under his plan, up to 500 high-risk domestic violence offenders would be fitted with GPS ankle-monitoring bracelets that would activate an alarm if they got close to a victim’s residence or workplace should the LNP be elected.
Police would then be deployed to the location in an attempt to prevent crime before it happens.
“This is something that this state desperately needs and we are committed to making sure that we do everything we can to put the balance of power back in favour of the victim,” Mr Crisafulli said.
Western Australia recently introduced laws to allow judges to order offenders to wear ankle monitoring bracelets while Tasmania has had it in place since 2019.
The sister of Kelly Wilkinson, who was murdered by her estranged husband, said GPS tracking could have prevented the crime.
“She was in her family home, (her husband) Ryan was hiding in the bushes for nearly three hours,” Danielle Carroll said.
“If she had an opportunity to know he was close, I know she would be standing next to me now.”
Under the LNP’s $18.2 million proposal, victims would also be able to share their location from a GPS-tracking device like an Apple Watch for an “added layer of safety”.
A further $2.5 million has been pledged to open more “Hope Hubs” – run by DV Connect – in shopping centres to support women, children and men escaping domestic violence.
The commitments came after Mr Crisafulli revealed he would sack himself in his first term as premier if he failed to drive down crime in a fiery opening debate with Premier Steven Miles on Thursday night.
If elected Mr Crisafulli will also legislate laws by Christmas to introduce “adult time for adult crime” for youths.
“If there aren’t fewer victims, I don’t think I’ll be in a very good position … you won’t be seeing me,” Mr Crisafulli said during the debate.
“So you’ll stand down?” Nine Network’s Tim Arvier asked.
“Yes,” the LNP leader replied.
Mr Crisafulli criticised the Miles government during the debate for failing to tackle the escalating crime rate in Queensland to which the incumbent premier attributed the rise to the inclusion of domestic violence offences.
The Queensland Police Service said the rate of child offenders dropped by two per cent in 2023/24 while overall offence numbers had dropped by 6.7 per cent in the same period.
The opposition leader has committed to collecting crime data and using the same metrics the Labor government used to reveal whether crime decreases under the LNP.
“If you’re serious about doing good, you have to have the same baseline,” Mr Crisafulli said on Friday.
Polls are forecasting a swing to the LNP with the opposition leading 56 to 44 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.