Thousands of residents without power heading into day of extreme heat; Premier ‘not happy’ with crime figures

Turning to politics for a moment: At a press conference yesterday, the Premier was asked about the recent state crime statistics blunder.

Data released earlier this month claimed Queensland’s crime victim numbers per capita were down 10.8 per cent compared to the same time last year. But several days later, on October 16, it was revealed the actual reduction was 6.5 per cent.

Following Police Minister Dan Purdie’s apology in parliament that day, the Premier on Sunday expressed his disappointment with the incorrect data but commended police for swiftly correcting the error.

“It has to be said, I make this point the police at the moment … they realised that [the incorrect figure], they transparently said what was wrong with it – but the figures remain,” Crisafulli told reporters in Petrie.

Loading

When asked how police and the government could avoid a similar debacle in future, he said “by making sure that there’s checkpoints in police data and that there is relentless checking on it”.

“I’m not happy with the number … because I’ve seen how much that victim number has increased every year, but the facts remain, there are fewer victims of crime – but it’s off such a high base that people quite rightly, still feel that there is a crisis that needs to be resolved.

“Everything that we do will be about strengthening the laws, not weakening them. Every investment will be about doing early intervention and rehabilitation at a level we’ve never seen.

“Every change for police will be to put more of them and give them better resources, and you’ll never have me making excuses for the troubles that people have faced.”