By Denis Bright

Hijacking Political Futures: The Queensland Government Versus Corporately and Politically Motivated News Perceptions?

Before preparing an article on developments in the Queensland economy as a sequel to my article on the NSW State Budget, a diversion is in order on the current profile of crime as a political issue in Queensland prior to local government and state elections in 2024. These perceptions are best developed in news coverage of events in outer suburban and specific regional areas where state seats are held by the Labor Party. Quite high rates of crime in police districts such as Charleville and Mt. Isa do not attract similar levels of media exposure by mainstream reporting but are still objectively covered in Police Media.

Despite the Labor government’s majority status from the 2020 state elections, the results were still quite closely balanced from the voting trends in the most marginal electorates. A few political slips could throw Queensland into minority government or worse as achieved by Premier Campbell Newman’s result in 2012.

A recent banner headline in The Townsville Bulletin (1 November 2023) showed how sensational coverage of street crime problems in Townsville could be blended with a love of coverage of issues relating to sport.

The latest Newspoll in Queensland (26 October 2023) shows that ambivalence towards State Labor in Queensland has increased since the federal election in 2022 as interpretated by William Bowe for Poll Bludger. Newspoll is owned by the British marketing giant YouGov.

As a successful marketing organization, YouGov has an international outreach with a revenue base of almost $ 500 million and generates a handsome profit of 18.7 percent to 31 July 2023. This highly respected marketing agency has attracted a vast corporate ownership base through its global shareholdings which is readily accessible from perusal of its annual reports.

News coverage of local issues across Queensland in the mainstream news networks is strongly influenced by other corporate links.

Television coverage by the Nine network is popular in regional Queensland. The combination of stories about sport and criminal activity are important components in the news repertoire of 9 News.

As households make increasing use of pay television, there is significant exposure to Sky News. Sky News is owned by Comcast Corporation which is the largest home internet server and home television provider in the USA. It owns NBCUniversal media conglomerate, which includes the NBC television network, Universal Pictures, and Universal Studios. The corporate shareholding within Comcast includes:

• Capital Research and Management Company (9.6%)
• The Vanguard Group, Inc. (9.5%)
• BlackRock, Inc. (7.6%)
• State Street Corporation (6.2%)
• Wellington Management Company, LLP (5.4%)
• Fidelity Management & Research Company, LLC (4.9%)
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. (4.7%)
• T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (4.6%)
• Geode Capital Management, LLC (4.3%)
• Susquehanna International Group, LLP (4.2%)
• Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. (4.1%)

A year before the state election date on 26 October 2024, there is still time to reverse these polling trends which detract from the economic management record of the Queensland Government in steering the state out of the COVID-19 era and problems with trading and investment ties with China.

If clients of the mainstream media networks have perceptions that crime levels in Queensland are out of control, Labor’s trusted insiders must take-up these concerns as empathetically as possible even if the trends are not always confirmed by official crime statistics.

A highly professionalized police service generates data on crime levels across Queensland on both numbers of offences and rates of crime. There was a downward long-term trend on both indicators even in the so-called battle zones on the streets of Townsville (Interactive Crime Statics available to readers from Queensland Police News).

Agitators from the LNP and with the support of far-right parties have a personal stake in taking Queensland out of majority Labor control as achieved in the 2020 state elections and in the local government elections in Townsville by manipulating public opinion on both real and imagined trends in local crime.

There is less concern in the mainstream media about action on domestic violence and breaches of domestic violence orders which is being addressed by the Townsville City:

Townsville City Council and Zonta Townsville Inc are working together to create signs for public toilets that detail services available for people experiencing domestic and family violence.

Community and Cultural Development Committee chairperson Ann-Maree Greaney said the Behind Closed Doors project had the potential to help a myriad of people living in Townsville or visiting the city.

“Domestic and family violence is an incredibly important issue in our community, and unfortunately it is more prevalent than most of us realise,” Cr Greaney said.

“People who experience domestic violence and abuse are often unable to easily research support options, so having this information readily available in Council-owned toilets is just one small thing Council and Zonta can do to help people leave domestic and family violence.”

Zonta Qld District Governor Bridget Mather said the signs would help raise awareness for domestic and family violence.

“Women’s rights are human rights and Zonta empowers women and girls, globally,” Ms Mather said.

“Mayors and Councils from Brisbane to Cairns have generously sponsored signage in a safe place, to better inform women and girls at risk of violence.

Local conservative leaders have a real interest in stoking up concerns about crime by ignoring the attempts by the Palaszczuk Government to contain crime while striving for safe custody for youth awaiting their first court appearance:

• Amending the Youth Justice Act 1992 to introduce a limited presumption against bail for children charged with offences, such as serious violence and property offences. This means that these children will be more likely to be remanded in custody while awaiting trial.
• Expanding the electronic monitoring trial for children as young as 15. This allows the courts to order children to wear electronic monitoring devices as a condition of bail or probation.
• Introducing a new $9.89 million fast-track sentencing program in Brisbane, Townsville, Southport and Cairns. This program aims to reduce the time that children spend on remand by fast-tracking their sentencing.
• Constructing two new youth detention centres. This will increase the capacity of the youth detention system and provide better facilities for young people in detention.
• Appointing an Assistant Commissioner within the Queensland Police Service to the position of Youth Crime Taskforce Commander. This taskforce is responsible for coordinating the police response to youth crime.
• Limiting the use of solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is now only used as a last resort in exceptional circumstances.
• Providing access to mental health and other support services. Young people in detention now have access to a range of mental health and other support services, including counselling and drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.

Policing should not always be a serious business. In the Townsville Police District, a well-developed police media helps to deter criminal activity.

Graphs are available on Police media to enable concerned readers to not short-term changes in criminal activity.

Fostering the Halloween spirit by the Townsville Police and in other police districts across Queensland was an interesting variant on this soft media campaign.

Criminal activity fuelled by economic and cultural disadvantage has always been a feature of Australia’s social history. Tough on crime strategies during the Joh era of National Party control (1957-88) did not extend to political corruption and white-collar crime which were all features of the Fitzgerald Inquiry just prior to the ascendancy of the Labor Party after the 1989 election.

The experiences of an ex-police officer and national political icon can be recalled in honour of our departed Labor leader who made the transition to Governor-General in 1989. Bill Hayden’s experiences on the challenging police beat in Vulture Street in South Brisbane during the 1950s are recalled in his autobiography. He made no attempt to politicize the issue of criminal activity to enhance his career prospects and offered by bipartisan support to the arrival of Vietnamese refugees during the Fraser years (1975-83).