The Far North police have once again shown why they are amongst the best in the country rounding up the offenders responsible for the assault at Cairns Central within a very short time frame. I have been critical of the name calling and racial overtones of some when commenting on this issue and will continue to do so. It is unnecessary and deflects attention away from the real issues.
That being said it is now time for the people of Cairns to be told exactly what the punishment is for these offenders. Their privacy under our laws needs to be protected so they should not be named, but the people of Cairns deserve to hear what happens next.
We often see in the press the comment "the offender/s will now be dealt with under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act".
My question for the people of Cairns is do you know exactly what that means?
Are you satisfied that the response is adequate for the behaviour and crime committed?
I think if people knew they might be calling for legislative change, especially for repeat and serial offenders.
Kids make mistakes and need guidance and one mistake should not destroy the rest of their life for a minor indiscretion.That was the 'spirit' of our legislation when it was introduced.
But this has been taken to the extreme in a social experiment by the government that has horribly backfired. There has to be some distinction between a kid who shoplifts a packet of chewing gum and someone involved in sexual assault and robbery with violence.
The people deserve to hear exactly what sentence is handed out for offenders in Children's Court so that they can determine if the penalties in place under our legislation are meeting community expectations and take action if they are not.
We need to address the other issues in a holistic manner but ensuring that we have an effective law and order policy in place is the first step to bringing about change.
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