Queensland Premier vows 'more' changes to youth justice laws as 13-year-old arrested over stabbing Australian news

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli says the Queensland government intends to overhaul the state's tough youth justice laws after the arrest of a 13-year-old accused of stabbing a supermarket worker “Revise.

Police say the boy attacked the woman with a knife at the Yamanto Shopping Center in Ipswich, southwest of Brisbane, on Monday night.

The injured woman, a 63-year-old Coles employee, remains in hospital in a critical condition. The boy was charged with attempted murder.

Crisafulli's government was elected in October on a promise to implement some of the toughest youth crime laws in the democratic world, including “adult time” legislation passed by parliament last month and has come into force.

The Prime Minister said the laws, which impose adult penalties on young people accused of certain serious offences, would “act as a deterrent”.

Crisafulli was asked by reporters on Tuesday whether recent events – less than a month after the law came into effect – showed “Queenslanders are not safe under your government”.

“I reject this,” Crisafulli said.

“I think Queenslanders know how seriously I take this.

“There will be further changes to the Youth Justice Act. The Queensland Police Service will be further strengthened.”

Journalists also asked the prime minister and other ministers of state about the omission of the offense of attempted murder from the new law for those subject to “adult time” restrictions.

During the press conference, Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm was asked several times about the inclusion of attempted murder in “adult time” laws and said she would not comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

“I will not be talking about anything today that is relevant to this case that could be redacted.”

Crisafelli said the government had “implemented the changes we made to the elections and I said that would be the first step”.

“There will be more changes to the Youth Justice Act. There are more.

“I've said we are putting together a panel of experts to make further changes… Trust me, those changes will happen.”

Several experts have dismissed the government's claims that the laws will act as a deterrent or reduce crime.

Queensland is one of the only jurisdictions in the democratic world to impose adult penalties on children. In some of the most extreme potential cases, children as young as 10 could face mandatory life sentences.