Opportunity for Roger Cook to fix Banksia Hill crisis

When the history of the past few years in this State is written, the accounts will be kind to Mark McGowan.

He will be remembered as a towering figure who helped WA defy the odds to come out of the COVID pandemic stronger than ever before.

But for all his immense popularity and undeniable political acumen, there was one issue on which his continued failures cannot be forgotten.

Mr McGowan’s intransigence on Banksia Hill and youth justice will be remembered as the nadir of his premiership.

Despite scandal after scandal, riot after riot, Mr McGowan refused to accept something was deeply wrong with the way we treat young criminals and alleged criminals in this State.

Experts — judges and doctors among them — who pleaded with him to look at the evidence and try a new approach were stonewalled. The worse the crisis become, the tougher the Premier’s rhetoric became.

Troubled children and young people, many of whom had experienced serious trauma and suffering in their short lives, were demonised and cast by “terrorists” by the Premier.

Mr McGowan’s willingness to play politics with the wellbeing of vulnerable children is a  stain on his legacy.

And it left the community less safe. No one is saying teenage criminals shouldn’t face consequences. Law breakers must be held to account. But the ultimate goal must be to put these children on a better path. Not to beat them down, strip them of their humanity and
teach them there is nothing for them but more crime and more violence.

“If Mr Cook gets this right and succeeds where Mr McGowan has failed, history will look kindly on him also.”

It is a great relief to hear a change in direction from Mr McGowan’s successor as premier.

Roger Cook’s decision to dedicate part of his first full day as Labor leader to receiving a briefing on the issues plaguing Banksia Hill is a strong signal that he wants to do things differently.

“Of those 87 kids (in detention) there is 87 different stories and reasons why they find themselves in these current circumstance,” Mr Cook said yesterday.

“And we will now need to make sure that we provide them with the support — the discipline and the support — that they need to get their lives back on the straight and narrow.”

It’s a refreshing change from the tough-on-crime bombast that Mr McGowan and his spinners were certain played so well in the suburbs.

It’s not yet clear whether Bill Johnston will retain the mantle of Corrective Services Minister. This newspaper has editorialised before that he should not. Sorting out the mess at Banksia Hill is a full time job and should be given to someone with the energy and the drive to get it done.

The same old approach isn’t working. Fresh thinking by a fresh minister is required. If Mr Cook gets this right and succeeds where Mr McGowan has failed, history will look kindly on him also.