Nationals leader David Littleproud has suggested sending kids to camps in the outback as a way to tackle youth crime, because nothing says ‘I respect this society’ like two months in the desert.
Speaking on Today, Littleproud said a stint branding cattle and building fences in the outback would help tackle “posting and boasting”, where young people share videos of themselves committing crimes on social media.
“We need to go back to outback camps, 200 or 300 kilometres from towns. You don’t need barbed wire – if they want to run away, they have to dodge the king browns and wild dogs, but every morning they’re up with a purpose,” Littleproud said.
“They’re taught a trade, making fences, cleaning out water troughs, branding cattle, learning mechanics and they come away with a purpose in life.”
He said that young people no longer feared prison, claiming that kids in jail “get to go and play touch (football) and computer games during the night”.
“I’m seeing that even out of my own electorate where they break in or they get extra points. They can pull jewellery off a sleeping person and that’s not the way that we need to be as a society,” he said.
Sure, bootcamps in the desert may never have worked for anyone before, but maybe this time things will be different.
The idea of dropping kids in the outback is just one of many suggestions the coalition is considering as it moves to make posting and boasting a crime. Opposition leader Peter Dutton is expected to introduce a bill next week that would make bragging about crimes online a criminal offence punishable by up to two years in prison.
The bill would also allow the courts to ban young people from social media for up to two years.
It will only progress if picked up by the Federal Government, however some states are already moving to introduce their own tougher measures.
Earlier this week, NSW announced it would follow Queensland and become the second state to introduce additional two-year posting and boasting penalties on vehicle theft and breaking and entering offences.
The changes would allow two years of extra jail time added to those who brag about their crimes online.
However, Greens MP Sue Higginson accused the legislation of being short sighted, saying it would simply lead to more children “trapped in the criminal justice system”.
“Vulnerable children that are committing crimes in NSW deserve better than the knee-jerk law and order responses,” she said.
“All of the evidence before us shows that tougher, punitive measures do not reduce the incidence of crime – it just further traumatises the kids and damages social cohesion.”
Ultimately, she said the focus needs to be on stopping crime before it happens, rather than solely on punishment after the fact.
