It is a privilege to stand here as the member for Capalaba. It has been just over a year since the October 2024 state election, and I am enormously grateful that the people of Capalaba placed their trust in me. I took this role knowing what I stand for and what I believe in. I stand for victims and I believe in justice. Politics is not a game for me; it is real-life. Every action I take in this chamber is dedicated to the memory of my son Matthew, his partner Kate, my grandson Miles, and all of those victims whose lives have been shattered by youth crime. My job is not to let you, the people of Capalaba, down.
When we were elected we were given a clear mandate to restore safety to our communities, and we are delivering on that promise. Before Christmas last year we legislated Making Queensland Safer Laws, fulfilling our commitment to introduce Adult Crime, Adult Time. We strengthened these laws to contain 33 offences that send a crystal clear message: these offences mean something to victims and to the community. We are restoring consequences for actions. We have also supported vital tools for our police: we have made Jack’s Law permanent, allowing police to use handheld scanners without warrant in relevant places to detect knives. This law is saving lives. We also supported extending the trial of electronic monitoring devices for youth offenders for a proper evaluation. This supports our police and works alongside our hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in early intervention programs to break the cycle of crime.
As a member of the Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee, I have been involved in hundreds of hours of meetings and hearings to ensure that the government is proactive, not reactive, in keeping Queensland safe. Furthermore, we have delivered vital legal reforms, modernising the 50-year-old Trusts Act and acting on sentencing reforms to limit the use of good character references in sexual offence cases, ensuring victim harm is recognised as a sentencing purpose. There is still much more to do.
I am proud that every one of my election commitments for Capalaba has been funded in our first budget. We secured funding to complete investigations into the metro expansion to Capalaba, a key piece of transport infrastructure for the future; the business case for the Tingalpa Creek bridge duplication project; and a feasibility study for the remediation and recreational use of Leslie Harrison Dam. We also allocated $12 million to fund the new RSPCA Wildlife Hospital and Centre of Excellence at IndigiScapes to support our local fauna. We funded over $4.3 million in upgrades to local schools and TAFE and we secured $600,000 for anti-motor vehicle theft devices.
I continue to listen to concerns about better transport services, more policing and health services locally. Residents are telling me that an MRI machine—
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