Sunrise hosts Nat Barr and Matt Shirvington have grilled Queensland Premier Steven Miles about why it took him so long to appear on their show to address rising youth crime in the Sunshine State.
Barr said viewers wanted answers about the youth crime epidemic, with some saying their homes and cars had been broken into.
Tensions have only increased following the tragic death of grandmother Vyleen White, 70, who was allegedly stabbed by a teenager in a aldi parking at Redbank Plains Town Square on February 3.
“When he took the top job in December, he said juvenile crime was unacceptably high,” Barr said Wednesday morning.
‘(Our viewers) feel intimidated, scared. Some have lost loved ones. Why don’t things get better?
Miles said he had heard the same thing from Queenslanders and announced there would be a new police crackdown in the state.
Sunrise hosts Nat Barr and Matt Shirvington grilled Queensland Premier Steven Miles about why it took him so long to appear on their show to address rising youth crime in the Sunshine State.
More officers will be sent into the field in crime hotspots as part of the new police taskforce Operation Whiskey Legion.
Mr Shirvo said that while a new police operation was a step forward, he demanded to know why Mr Miles only agreed to come for an interview now.
“We’ve been asking you and your team to come since February 6,” the breakfast show host said.
‘We know that the death of Vyleen White in Ipswich particularly captured the attention not only of that community, but of all of Australia.
‘Why did it take you so long to come see us?’
Miles tried to ignore the question, saying he was in the media most days but the role of prime minister was “obviously a very busy job”.
“I’ll go whenever I can, but there will be times when I can’t, when there’s other work to do,” he said.
Shirvo continued to badger the premier, saying Sunrise had a “huge audience” in Queensland, adding it was “important” it communicated with residents there.
“Of course, and that’s why I’m here with you today and I’ll be happy to be on the show whenever I can, but being premier of a big state like Queensland is a very busy job and some days I just won’t be able to come.” Go ahead,” Mr. Miles responded.
Vyleen White (pictured) died after she was allegedly stabbed in an underground shopping center car park in Redbank Plains Town Square in Brisbane’s southwest in February.
It comes after Labor suffered a devastating blow in the by-election earlier this month.
LNP candidate Darren Zanow reclaimed the Ipswich West seat after his Labor opponent Wendy Bourne suffered a 15.2 per cent swing against him.
Following the results, Miles said his government needed to improve with just seven months to go until the October 26 general election.
“We will listen to voters and now we will redouble our efforts to achieve results on these issues,” he said.
‘It’s an admission that we need to do better and it’s a recognition that that’s what we’ve started to do, focus much more on those immediate concerns: the cost of living, community safety, health and housing.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles (pictured) said his government needs to improve after voters turned against Labor in two by-elections earlier this month.
“We’ve made great strides on some of them, but there’s clearly more to do, especially on cost of living and community safety.”
Shirvo said that if the Labor Party undergoes similar changes in October, Miles’ government would “virtually disappear”.
“By-elections are difficult for governments,” the prime minister said.
‘I am a new prime minister, I have only been in office for three months.
‘The message I heard from locals in Ipswich and Inala was that they wanted us to do more to keep their community safe, to do more to address the cost of living, to do more and housing availability and providing better health care and that is absolutely my focus.
“I’m going to continue to work hard to address those issues every day from now until October and, at the end of the day, Queenslanders will make their decision.”