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| 'Weak on crime': Indigenous leader on why MPs fear backing youth programs | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Politicians shy away from effective diversionary programs for young lawbreakers because they fear being seen as “weak on crime”, the chairman of the prime minister's Indigenous advisory council says. | Politicians shy away from effective diversionary programs for young lawbreakers because they fear being seen as “weak on crime”, the chairman of the prime minister's Indigenous advisory council says. |
| Warren Mundine, a former Labor party president who now works closely with Tony Abbott, has called on the states and territories to introduce mandatory diversionary programs with the aim of directing juvenile offenders into jobs and education rather than detention. | Warren Mundine, a former Labor party president who now works closely with Tony Abbott, has called on the states and territories to introduce mandatory diversionary programs with the aim of directing juvenile offenders into jobs and education rather than detention. |
| “If a diversionary program succeeds and a young person goes on to stable employment, this means a lifetime of paying taxes rather than a life in and out of detention and welfare at taxpayer expense,” he writes in an opinion piece in The Australian newspaper. | “If a diversionary program succeeds and a young person goes on to stable employment, this means a lifetime of paying taxes rather than a life in and out of detention and welfare at taxpayer expense,” he writes in an opinion piece in The Australian newspaper. |
| “Yet governments shy away from effective diversionary programs because they fear being labelled weak on crime. Another example of ideology trumping pragmatism.” | “Yet governments shy away from effective diversionary programs because they fear being labelled weak on crime. Another example of ideology trumping pragmatism.” |
| Mundine says he sat on the New South Wales attorney general’s juvenile crime prevention committee about 10 years ago. “Research presented to the committee pointed to a common conclusion – send a juvenile offender to detention and in most cases you have them for life; they'll invariably be in and out of the system forever. However, put them into a diversionary program [where they instead go into a job or education that they must complete instead of jail] and in most cases you never see them again.” | Mundine says he sat on the New South Wales attorney general’s juvenile crime prevention committee about 10 years ago. “Research presented to the committee pointed to a common conclusion – send a juvenile offender to detention and in most cases you have them for life; they'll invariably be in and out of the system forever. However, put them into a diversionary program [where they instead go into a job or education that they must complete instead of jail] and in most cases you never see them again.” |
| Mundine says there is a mountain of research on Indigenous incarceration, its causes and effects, and many ideas for solving the problem. | Mundine says there is a mountain of research on Indigenous incarceration, its causes and effects, and many ideas for solving the problem. |
| “Some have been tried and tested. Ironically, much of the work and expertise in this area that has informed me in recent months originates from National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services – one of the bodies that Treasury is defunding,” he writes. | “Some have been tried and tested. Ironically, much of the work and expertise in this area that has informed me in recent months originates from National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services – one of the bodies that Treasury is defunding,” he writes. |
| In a corresponding interview with The Australian, Mundine said he wanted swift and early intervention for first offenders through diversionary programs, even if they were minor offences, as education and jobs were the key to preventing communities from becoming “breeding grounds for anti-social behaviour”. | In a corresponding interview with The Australian, Mundine said he wanted swift and early intervention for first offenders through diversionary programs, even if they were minor offences, as education and jobs were the key to preventing communities from becoming “breeding grounds for anti-social behaviour”. |
| "When you meet kids who tell you the only time they've attended school is in detention and that they prefer detention to being at home, then that tells you their home and family environment is completely dysfunctional," he told the newspaper. | "When you meet kids who tell you the only time they've attended school is in detention and that they prefer detention to being at home, then that tells you their home and family environment is completely dysfunctional," he told the newspaper. |
| "If parents aren't sending their kids to school or giving them a safe and stable home life, that sends off loud warning bells that we need to act." | "If parents aren't sending their kids to school or giving them a safe and stable home life, that sends off loud warning bells that we need to act." |
| Mundine also defended the effectiveness of his advocacy to prevent the Coalition’s planned cuts to the Indigenous legal aid budget, saying Treasury had reduced the size of the cut but spread the pain to other programs. | Mundine also defended the effectiveness of his advocacy to prevent the Coalition’s planned cuts to the Indigenous legal aid budget, saying Treasury had reduced the size of the cut but spread the pain to other programs. |
| He remained “unhappy” with the final decision but it was unrealistic to expect him, or the Indigenous advisory council, “to cast some sort of force-field over Indigenous spending to exempt it from the broader budget agenda” to reduce spending. | He remained “unhappy” with the final decision but it was unrealistic to expect him, or the Indigenous advisory council, “to cast some sort of force-field over Indigenous spending to exempt it from the broader budget agenda” to reduce spending. |
| Labor's spokesman on Indigenous affairs, Shayne Neumann, said Mundine's comments provided "a rationale for defeat and surrender, while attempting to shift the blame from the government to the Treasury". | Labor's spokesman on Indigenous affairs, Shayne Neumann, said Mundine's comments provided "a rationale for defeat and surrender, while attempting to shift the blame from the government to the Treasury". |
| "This passive acceptance of these funding cuts calls into question the advisory council’s ability to provide forthright, fearless and frank advice," he said in a statement on Friday. | "This passive acceptance of these funding cuts calls into question the advisory council’s ability to provide forthright, fearless and frank advice," he said in a statement on Friday. |
| "While Mr Mundine says this funding is at the tail end of the problem, he cannot justify cutting the funding while no effective mandatory diversionary programs are in place across all states and territories. Campbell Newman disposed of Queensland’s Murri courts and associated diversionary programs aimed at preventing recidivism." | "While Mr Mundine says this funding is at the tail end of the problem, he cannot justify cutting the funding while no effective mandatory diversionary programs are in place across all states and territories. Campbell Newman disposed of Queensland’s Murri courts and associated diversionary programs aimed at preventing recidivism." |
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