Crime a product of social crisis: Price

Crime a product of social crisis: Price

By Bill Mason

BRISBANE — While the Liberal, Labor and National parties compete over who can be the toughest against the supposed "crime wave" in Queensland, Democratic Socialist candidate Susan Price has targeted the underlying causes of the problem.

"The increasing rate of crime in our community is not due to a decrease in police power as some parties like to put the issue", Price, who is standing in Brisbane Central, told the Northern News local paper.

"It is due to the economic and social crisis that society is facing with increased unemployment and further alienation, especially among young people, from society.

"It is a symptom of a system that is not working, and I don't think the answer is to increase police powers, but to address social issues, questions of unemployment and poverty, decreasing wages and conditions. One way of tackling this can be through developing projects that provide socially useful work and that are environmentally sustainable", Price said.

From GLW issue 71