The Queensland premier is under fire after appearing to laugh when asked by a reporter what his government was doing about youth crime in his state.
Steven Miles apparently couldn’t help but laugh when hit with the question while speaking at the Queensland Media Club on Tuesday.
The state premier had been addressing the undersupply of affordable housing when he took questions from reporters who grilled him about the youth crime crisis.
Vyleen White became the latest victim after she was allegedly stabbed at a Redbank Plains shopping centre in front of her granddaughter on Saturday.
Brisbane bureau chief for Sky News Adam Walters asked the premier why he hadn’t addressed the subject in his speech to which he replied ‘it was a speech about housing’.
But Mr Walters pushed: ‘The absence of any reference to youth crime in your speech would have been noted by the people of those communities’.
‘C’mon,’ Mr Miles said and laughed at the reporter for persisting with the question that was off-topic to the forum on the housing crisis.
His reaction struck a nerve with everyday ns with many labelling the response ‘shameless’ and ‘pathetic’.
Mr Miles was forced to publicly address the reaction by posting an update to X, formerly Twitter, to strenuously denying he was laughing at the serious matter.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles is under fire after nervously laughing when asked at a press conference what his government was doing about youth crime
‘Noone in Queensland, myself included, is laughing at this tragedy, and for any news outlet to suggest so is disrespectful,’ he wrote.
‘A family and community are grieving. Sensational headlines and misrepresentations have no part to play in Queensland this week.’
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan described the premier’s response as ‘weird and bizarre behaviour’.
READ MORE: Alleged motive for Redbank Plains stabbing
Ms Whyte was allegedly stabbed outside a suburban Aldi store
‘He needs to explain himself, particularly given he’s been part of a government that has weakened youth justice laws,’ Senator Canavan, who is from Rockhampton in Queensland, said.
‘In 2019 they made it clear judges only had to deny bail as a last resort and it’s let far too many violent criminals out on our streets when they shouldn’t be’.
‘I don’t know the circumstances of this particular case, but doesn’t it show the government doesn’t take the crime issue seriously?’ he said.
‘They only apply band-aids when there’s a little bit of public outcry and they will probably have some kind of response because there will be outrage over this.’
‘But it seems like it’s a joke for them and it’s not good enough for Queenslanders.’
Furious ns on X, formerly Twitter, were less diplomatic.
One commenter said the Premier ‘wasn’t up to it’ and labelled him the ‘work experience kid’.
‘You are an absolute disgrace to the n people… resign,’ another said.
‘You failed to protect your people,’ claimed a third.
It has been revealed that the alleged teenage killer of Ms Whyte, 70, had been out on bail for robbery.
Grandmother Vyleen Whyte, 70, was allegedly stabbed at Redbank Plains shopping centre
Police last year opposed bail for the 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, according the The n.
He is alleged to have stabbed Ms Whyte to steal her 2009 Hyundai Getz and has been charged with three counts of stealing and one charge of unlawful use of her vehicle.
Four other boys, aged 15 and 16, alleged to have been with him have been charged with one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
The Labor government has brought in two reforms to youth bail laws following tragedies involving Kate Leadbetter and Matt Field in 2021 and Emma Lovell in 2022.
The presumption of bail has been removed for serious repeat youth offenders.
Breach of bail penalties, including up to two years jail, have also been reinstated.
Mr Miles said on Tuesday: ‘We are putting more police into the community and the laws we have in place are laws that the police helped us craft’.
‘If we need to do more, then we will do more. But nobody can seriously stand up and say they could have prevented this.’
READ MORE: Fed up Queenslanders say they are overrun by youth crime
Fed-up residents of a community riddled with youth crime are considering moving out after a great-grandmother was allegedly murdered at a supermarket. Amanda Barrett and Chris Boyce say they want to leave after a surge in illegal and antisocial behaviour