On a Toowoomba Facebook group, frustrated residents share regular updates about vehicles stolen, shops robbed and homes burgled. Some post photos of children accused of crimes; the “bleeding hearts” are shouted down.
Amid the emotion, Ken Cunliffe calls for calm and for the community to focus on solutions rather than politics.
Cunliffe, who had his Landcruiser stolen two years ago in Toowomba’s Middle Ridge, says he wants victims of crime to have more financial support, better access to counselling and the power to consult the government on youth justice.
This month he got his wish: the Palaszczuk government announced Cunliffe had been appointed to Queensland’s youth justice strategy reference group as a victims’ representative.
But a deeper look at Cunliffe’s social media posts raises questions about his views on youth justice problems.
Cunliffe has said he believes schools should consider bringing back the cane as a form of punishment.
“We used to have the cane in schools, and in some cases as a court imposed punishment too,” he says in one Facebook post.
“That was an uncomfortable consequence! Unfortunately, like so many things it has become politically incorrect to even talk about that – cruel and barbaric punishment that actually put many kids on to a crime free pathway for life.
“Alas, all too often we throw the baby out with the bath water.”
In another comment Cunliffe says he believes there is a place for “court-administered corporal punishment”.
“Done properly, they would think twice about coming back for more,” he writes.
When asked about the posts, Cunliffe told Guardian Australia that he believed there could be a place for the cane in schools.
“My personal thoughts are that [the cane] could help,” he said.
“But … it’s got to be done very carefully and well thought out, not an abuse at all.
“If the parents of kids aren’t able to exercise discipline … then the state needs to be disciplining these kids as well.”
Cunliffe has also criticised steps taken to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 in several states. In one Facebook post he says children as young as seven “know right from wrong” and if they “repeatedly do wrong with no consequences, criminal behaviour becomes reinforced”.
He confirmed to Guardian Australia that he was against raising the age of criminal responsibility.
The cane was commonly used to punish children in Queensland until corporal punishment was abolished in state schools in 1995. But at private schools it is still legal for a teacher to use “reasonable force” to discipline a child.
The director of child protection studies at the Australian Catholic University, Darryl Higgins, says research shows corporal punishment can lead to increased aggression and mental anguish.
Higgins was involved with the Australian child maltreatment study, which found adults who experienced corporal punishment on four or more occasions had double the risk of mental health problems. They also had a higher risk of using physical abuse and violence as an adult, the study showed.
Ross Homel, a criminologist at Griffith University, says children as young as 10 are not “fully capable” of distinguishing right from wrong.
“They are not sufficiently developed in their cognitive and moral reasoning capacities,” Homel says.
Homel says while it’s important to listen to victims, their opinions should always be tested against human rights.
“We need to counterbalance [those views] with very good evidence and arguments which promote policies that are more likely to lead to better outcomes for children.”
The Greens MP for Maiwar, Michael Berkman, says victims of crime deserve a voice but they also deserve “a system that works”.
“Beating a child or sending them to prison doesn’t help victims – it just creates more,” he said.
“The harsh reality is that the younger a child enters prison, and the longer they spend there, the more likely they are to reoffend when they get out.”
The Queensland government’s youth justice reference group – which also includes peak bodies, education providers and academics – provides ongoing advice about to youth justice minister, Di Farmer.
Cunliffe was appointed to the advisory body after he started the Voice of Victims Toowoomba Advocacy group. He said his stance on the cane does not represent the views of the eight members of that group.
He is aware his views may not be “palatable” but he says he wants to prevent children “venturing into crime” as well as bolster victims’ confidence in the justice process.
“Early intervention is the most important part but the trauma victims go through needs to be recognised,” Cunliffe says.
“One thing I’ll be advocating very strongly for is for magistrates to meet with the victim before trial and hear their stories of trauma and loss.”
Farmer defended her choice to include Cunliffe as part of the reference group.
“Ken established the Voice of Victims in Toowoomba and I believe he’ll be a strong advocate from a victim’s perspective,” she said.
“It’s important we have representatives who bring a range of perspectives to the table and diversity is already a hallmark of the Youth Justice Strategy Reference Group.”
Cunliffe says he understands the helplessness many Toowoomba residents feel but he also worries vigilantism could take hold in his community.
“We don’t want to see it. We need to see better outcomes. We need to see less crime,” he says.
