Premier to visit the Brewarrina and Bourke
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Story by Tricia Duffield and Rod Corfe
Juvenile crime in rural communities could be one of the priority issues in the NSW state election in March next year.
Strong lobbying from local councils and from Member for Barwon Roy Butler over resourcing local communities to deal with young offenders has had a result.
NSW Premier Chris Minns will visit Bourke and Brewarrina next month, followed by a visit by the NSW Attorney General Michael Daley.
Mr Butler said he welcomed the interest in what was one of the biggest challenges facing rural and remote communities, who have long argued they are under-resourced to establish long-term solutions to juvenile crime.
“There have been peaks and troughs in offending by young people over the decades in Barwon communities, but in the last several years the nature of the offences has become more brazen and more dangerous,” Mr Butler said.
“I took a proposal for a young offender program to the previous government, and while they agreed with its merit, they didn’t fund it.
“I’ve had several discussions with Ministers and the Premier in the current government regarding what needs to happen in regional communities to avoid spending $1.3 million per year to incarcerate a single young person. […]
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