Panel with Karl Stefanovic and David Crisafulli, Today Show
29 June 2023
KARL STEFANOVIC: A Queensland teenager facing almost 100 charges, was on bail when he embarked on a five day crime spree, including an alleged violent carjacking while armed with a machete. According to The Courier Mail this morning, the 17 year old was facing 94 charges, including 38 break ins and 28 car thefts when somehow he was allowed to walk free. Joining us to discuss today's headlines is Victorian Senator Jane Hume in Melbourne and Queensland's Opposition leader David Crisafulli in Toowoomba. Braving the elements this morning. Thanks for being with us, David, to you. First up, I mean if that doesn't keep someone locked up, I don't know what will.
DAVID CRISAFULLI: Yeah, I'm not going to comment on a specific case. But I'll tell you one thing. Queenslanders this morning will be saying, well, here we go again. And it's nearly seven years to the day since they watered down the act and the single biggest change that's destroyed the system and created a generation of hardcore repeat young offenders was the removal Well they put this provision which makes detention a last resort. So the judges have effectively got their hands tied behind their back. Detention must be a last resort and the revolving door continues and it is tearing the hearts out of communities. And we've just got to get serious. We've got to remove that provision. We've got to put the rights of the victim ahead of the rights of the offender And we've got to turn these kids around with early intervention.
KARL STEFANOVIC: See, I reckon Peter Dutton should be weighing into this. He used to be a cop. There are problems right around the country now with youth crime. No one seems to know what to do with it Right across the country. It's an issue and youth crime is on the rise. Jane, is there any more that we can do from a federal level?
JANE HUME: Well, look, certainly youth crime does seem to be a topic that comes up over and over again, particularly on this show and particularly in Queensland. And what's frustrating us, I think, is that the state governments that are responsible for maintaining law and order seem to be focused on other things In Queensland's. The best example, you know, the idea that renaming Brisbane should be the topic of the day rather than dealing with this really important issue about keeping our communities safe must be so frustrating. No wonder Queenslanders wants change. David So I'm very pleased that you're there.
KARL STEFANOVIC: I'll circle back to changing Brisbane's name in a second, but just on a couple of local issues, Annastacia Palaszczuk. David has blindsided her own Health Minister, announcing the resignation of the state's health boss. By the way, he should have gone, but it's the way that it was done and the way that her own personnel and her own ministers didn't know. You know, it's just a basket case there.
DAVID CRISAFULLI: Yeah, complete chaos and crisis. This guy was signed less than a year ago to a five year contract and he was handpicked by the Premier At the same time, the Premier was saying, I've got his resignation. Yesterday the Health Minister was simultaneously doing a press conference saying, I fully support the director general. It's nuts. We've got the worst ambulance ramping in the nation. Elective surgery continues to blow out. We've got places in the Torres Strait that just aren't getting serviced. A maternity crisis throughout regional Queensland and they are absolutely consumed with themselves. And the loser is the Queenslander who just wants an ambo to turn up. The loser is the frontline staff who just wants to be respected and valued and go to work and do their job. It is chaos and crisis.
KARL STEFANOVIC: All right. And on top of all that, youth crime and also the problems generally in crime, there's budget issues going across the country. We saw the deficit announced yesterday, the cockahoop, the government in many ways, weren't they, Jane, about the surplus now, but the cost of living pressures on people across the country have haven't been this bad in a long time.
JANE HUME: Well, no, that's right. There was a larger surplus announced yesterday, but of course, that's just looking in the rear vision mirror and it's caused by the high commodity prices from states like Queensland and WA and of course, higher taxes to more people employed. But bracket creep being caused by inflation, people being pushed into higher and higher tax brackets. That's why you see an enormous surplus. In the meantime, you're getting continued sticky inflation. is higher for longer and the RBA has to keep pushing up, ratcheting up rates because the government isn't doing its fair share of the heavy lifting in maintaining the lower inflation rate, making sure that it's doing its bit, pulling all the levers it can to keep inflation low.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Put your seat belts on.
JANE HUME: That's the only way you can maintain a lower cost of living is to bring down inflation for all Australians.
KARL STEFANOVIC: What about this story in the ACT. There are big issues going on around the country, but the act seemed to be weighing into everything they were called in the Australian this morning a glorified council. I think that's probably about right. This one is delicate, but it is also quite a strange move. The ACT Government wants teens as young as 14 to have access to euthanasia, as Labor and the Greens team up for some of the most extreme assisted dying laws in the country. 14, Jane.
JANE HUME: Yeah, look the ACT has been given the right to legislate to allow for voluntary assisted dying. It is the last place in Australia to have those laws and it's important that they do. You know, it's ridiculous that you can drive ten minutes from Canberra and get access to voluntary assisted dying in New South Wales, but you can't get it within the ACT. That said, one of the reasons why the voluntary assisted dying laws have worked well in other states is because there are guardrails around it that give people comfort that the vulnerable aren't being exploited. The fact that this consultation paper has decided to push the boundaries of those guardrails I think gives some cause for concern. Hopefully the final legislation will come back to common sense.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Okay, let us know what you think about that one at home. It is delicate, as we say. Well, a plan. What about this one? There's nothing delicate about this. A plan to rename Brisbane ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games has been attacked as a ridiculous idea. As the push to reintroduce the city's Indigenous name comes back to the forefront. David, they want to change Brisbane. Ditch Brisbane. What do you think
DAVID CRISAFULLI: Not a chance. And the everyday Queenslander will be looking at this morning and just shaking their head and saying we're not going to cop that. And I just governing is about priorities and just think about what every person is talking about at the moment. We've got 72 less police than we did two years ago and weakened laws and a youth crime crisis We have the worst ambulance ramping in the country. Young people can't afford a home. Social housing lists blowing out of control, the biggest increase in power prices. And our government's focus is changing the name of the capital. I'll let your viewers determine whether or not this is a government with the right priorities or whether or not they're consumed by themselves and consumed with issues that the everyday Queenslander just is not focused on.
KARL STEFANOVIC: I get Fraser Island changing, but I'm not sure that's going to wash anyway. Another day, another climate protest are causing disruption. Jane, I want your expertise on this because there are law enforcement issues around the country, but I think we found the solution this morning. The Ashes got a front seat as the game was halted while three pitch invaders took center stage.
The wicket keeper taking the protester under his arm and shooing him out of the stadium. Ricky Ponting said it best when he referred to Bairstow and he said it's the only catch you'll take to the chain. Is that the way we need to deal with these protesters just muscle up?
JANE HUME: Karl, you know what happened to the good old fashioned streaker? Everybody loves a streaker. Now we’ve got these protesters, they're so boring, it’s so tiresome. I want a bit of nudity on my cricket pitch. Keep the game interesting.
KARL STEFANOVIC: I’m with you Jane. I love that kind of stuff. Excellent. We'll talk to you soon, if we're still on air.