February 17, 2014
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has given her support to make the streets of the South Burnett safer with new laws passed in Parliament this week that punish the organisers of out-of-control parties.
Mrs Frecklington spoke on the new laws during the debate, saying that although the South Burnett was fortunate not to have had too many of these types of parties, it was important to reduce the disruptive impact they may have on our communities and provide a deterrence to anyone organising such gatherings.
“It is important to note that this legislation is targeted at the more serious end of the scale of anti-social behavior. Often they are advertised on social media sites like Facebook and then spiral out of control,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“These new laws will target those who try to profiteer from young people by holding these unsupervised parties with little regard to the safety and security of guests, the neighbourhood or police.
“It’s also about protecting the people working on the frontline, like our police and ambulance officers who must attend to these types of out-of-control situations. This legislation helps ensure their safety so they can go home to their families each day.”
Under the new laws, a person who organises a party that becomes an out-of-control event, their parents or gate crashers face a maximum penalty of 12 months jail or $12,100.
If police face aggravated and violent circumstances when shutting down wild parties, the party organisers may face fines up to $18,150 and three years in prison.
Mrs Frecklington said that under the new laws, people who were not at fault would still be protected.
“We understand that sometimes the organisers of out-of-control parties are completely innocent. So, the Bill provides a defence for a person who has taken reasonable steps to ensure the event does not become out of control, or where a third party has caused the offence,” she said.
Police will launch a social media campaign targeting young people to educate them on the new laws.
