Parliament will this evening debate a motion moved by Queensland Greens MP Michael Berkman to disallow regulation allowing 16 and 17 year olds in certain areas to be fitted with GPS monitoring devices.
Since the introduction of these monitoring devices for youth offenders in May, there have been 4 unsuccessful and 1 successful attempts to have a young person fitted with a device. While details aren’t available for the 1 successful attempt, all of the applications up to that point were made in relation to Indigenous children.
The motion will be debated between 5:30pm and 7:30pm.
Michael Berkman:
“Not only was this trial of GPS trackers for 16 and 17 year old kids always a baseless, politically-motivated attack on some of the most vulnerable kids in Queensland, but it’s been an absolute failure by the Government’s own measures.
“I’m giving the Labor Government an opportunity to scrap their failed experiment while we have the chance.
“There never was any evidence these GPS monitors would reduce youth re-offending. Instead, they increase stigma, prompt racialised violence and vigilantism, and reduce young people’s ability to engage with education, employment and support services.
“The Government thought they could wordsmith away the racist nature of these laws by removing the word “tracking” from the Bill, but they can’t sanitise the facts.
“We cannot wait for a two-year trial of these ill-considered and damaging laws. They have already failed.
“These kids do not deserve to be the Government’s guinea pigs.”