Online petitions have also emerged after the death of the couple and their unborn child, adding to calls by some, including LNP police spokesman Dan Purdie, for a crackdown on repeat youth offenders.
One petition listed on Change.org calling for a “clean-up” of the Youth Justice Act to “take reoffending criminals off the street” had received more than 83,000 signatures by 5pm on Thursday.
Matty Field and Kate Leadbetter were expecting a baby.Credit:Facebook
Hosted by road trauma advocacy group Citizens Against Road Slaughter and addressed to Ms Palaszczuk, Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard and Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman, the petition calls for longer penalties and no parole for repeat offenders. At least two others have more than 50,000 signatures between them.
Fundraising efforts for funeral costs have so far received almost $17,000.
Ms Palaszczuk flagged on Thursday that relevant legislation would be changed “if there is anything more to strengthen”, after a tightening of bail laws in mid-2019.
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Speaking later alongside Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd, Police Minister Mark Ryan said there would be a full coronial investigation into the case along with police investigations underpinning the matter now before the courts.
“It’s constantly reviewed,” he said of the laws around youth justice. “If there are things that we can do better now, of course we’ll do them now.
“You don’t need a formal review for people to submit good ideas. We’ve been looking at this issue since we’ve come to government.”
Mr Ryan reiterated that youth offending trends showed the number of those committing crime had declined in the past decade, with a small group responsible for more offences.
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“All good ideas will be looked at, but they also must be backed by the experts and the evidence,” Mr Ryan said.
“There’s been a major recalibration over the last five years … around ensuring that young people particularly have good interventions at the right time so that they’re not in the criminal justice system.”
“[But] that’s not going to stop us from doing more, because we’ll never give up on this.”
Police were awaiting autopsy results for the couple on Thursday, along with drug and alcohol testing to determine what substances the teen might have had in his bloodstream at the time of the crash.
While earlier suggestions were that more charges could be laid in relation to the death of the unborn child, Queensland laws mean it is unlikely police would be able to do so.
Matt Dennien is a reporter with Brisbane Times.
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