Police System ‘Stinks’

Leading human rights activist Debbie Kilroy has called on the State Government to dismantle the Queensland Police Service ahead of the release of the report into police responses to domestic and family violence, describing it as like ‘a rotting carcass’.

‘It’s been picked over for decades by politicians trying to make it look better, but the reality is it stinks,’ she said. ‘We need to finally throw it out. It’s the only answer.’

Ms Kilroy, CEO of Sisters Inside which advocates for women and girls in the criminal legal system, said the government had a clear choice. ‘They can do what they’ve done for decades and patch it up with a Band-Aid or they can shut it down for good. But let’s be clear: a slap on the wrist will not work because this is systemic, historic abuse.

‘If we don’t shut it down we will see the most vulnerable people harmed further. We will go on seeing mothers locked up, children locked up. And we will see the damage play out in our communities for decades to come.

She said creating ‘a tougher framework of reporting’ will not shift entrenched behaviour. ‘They’ve tried that before, over and over, and we have watched the behaviour worsen, to the detriment of those women and children who are the most vulnerable, she said.

Ms Kilroy said abolition of policing and the prison system needed to be the government’s goal.

“We need to reduce and then eliminate the current system and replace it with a more humane, effective system centred on restoring dignity and care, replacing punishment with reconciliation and creating a new definition of how we approach justice in this country,” she said.

Contact Debbie Kilroy on 0419 762 474