The state MP whose electorate Sian Kingi's parents live in has joined the chorus of opposition to the schoolgirl’s rapist and murderer being bailed.
The killer who abducted, raped and murdered a 12-year-old girl in a sickening crime that shocked Australia nearly 35 years ago has made a plea for freedom.
Barrie Watts brutally killed young school girl Sian Kingi on the Sunshine Coast on November 27, 1987 with the help of his then-wife and mother-of-six Valmae Beck.
The pair lured 12-year-old Sian to help look for a white poodle with a pink bow before Watts abducted her into the backseat of a Holden Kingswood station wagon.
After gagging Sian and driving her to a remote forest, Watts performed a fantasy he shared with Beck by repeatedly sexually assaulting Sian before strangling and stabbing her.
Queensland Labor is proposing a shift in policy to raise the age of criminal responsibility from the age of 10 to 14.
Former police commissioner Bob Atkinson said 10 years old is too young to imprison a child, arguing that doing so places them on track for a life of crime.
The Australian newspaper reported the Labor Party will discuss the proposal at the next state conference next month.
Some Queenslanders, however, view the proposed shift as out of step with the Palaszczuk government’s recent youth crime crackdown which saw the presumption of bail reversed and the introduction of GPS trackers and bracelets.
Concerns have also been raised about youth detention centres in Queensland nearing full capacity despite being increased by a third.