The Queensland government is forging ahead with $10million plans to create a public registry of child sex offenders a part of a crackdown on child sex crimes.
David Crisafulli pledged the registry, which will come under new legislation known as Daniel’s Law, would be active before the end of the year.
Under the law, a public registry will feature photos, names, and locations of convicted sex offenders who breach their bail or are repeat offenders.
The premier told Sunrise parents ‘should be able to check’ on who has contact with their children.
‘I believe if somebody breaches their conditions, well, they lose their right to anonymity, and you should have a website that does that,’ he said.
‘If there are sex offenders in the area, parents deserve to know that.’
Mr Crisafulli said he had made a promise to the parents of 13-year-old abduction victim Daniel Morcombe.
Daniel was taken by sex offender Brett Peter Cowan in 2003.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli (above) announced his government would push ahead with ‘Daniel’s Law’
Denise and Bruce Morcombe have been strong advocates fighting for children’s safety
Mr Crisafulli said he made a commitment to Denise and Bruce Morcombe to create the registry in their honour.
‘This is something they wanted … I promised them before the election we will do it. We’re fulfilling that,’ he said.
On Sunday the premier said his government would continue to be tough on offenders.
‘There will be a conga line of people who have taken the “soft on crime” approach, who will be telling us why [these new measures] can’t occur,’ he told media.
‘I’m telling you why it can, and we made the commitment that we were going to clamp down on child sex offenders. That’s exactly what we’ll be doing.’
He said the implementation of Daniel’s Law would not stretch the Queensland budget.
‘[We will spend] $10million to set it up, the ongoing operational cost will be somewhere in that order … it’s a very small investment in making sure kids can be safe,’ Mr Crisafulli said.
‘If further resources are needed to make sure that those platforms are even more user-friendly, we won’t penny pinch.’
Police Minister Dan Purdie will spearhead the implementation of Daniel’s Law.
