Taxpayer-funded Adventure Program Must Not Reward Young Criminals
Herbert MP Phillip Thompson has slammed the State Labor Government’s plans for a program which appears to reward young criminals with adventure activities.
The program is reportedly funded with $73,000 of taxpayers’ money and will involve activities like zip-lining, sports and abseiling.
“This appears to be nothing more than reward for bad behaviour,” Mr Thompson said.
“Taxpayers cannot be funding a program that gives young car thieves a chance to go zip-lining and abseiling.
“These are opportunities a lot of young kids in our community would only dream of.
“They’re high-risk adventure activities that cost a lot of money – we can’t be giving young criminals a free ticket – at our expense.”
Mr Thompson said it was the latest move by a State Government which had a track record of letting off young criminals lightly.
“Cleveland Youth Detention Centre is already a holiday camp. Young car thieves are already being rewarded there,” he said.
“For the State Government who’ve failed for 7 long years to fix crime to give young criminals an adventurous weekend is a slap in the face for locals.
“The State Government needs to explain how this program will lead to less children breaking into homes and stealing cars.”
A number of early intervention programs were funded under the previous Federal Government, with a focus on job readiness and wrap-around support services.
A youth precinct in the CBD, which includes adventure-based learning with a high-ropes course, will be used by a broad range of young people from diverse backgrounds to help reduce boredom, and promote and encourage positive engagement with the community.
The facility, partly funded by the Federal Government, will be used for early-intervention programs, and not be a reward for young criminals committing crimes.
ENDS