Queensland Labor backs controversial bail crackdown despite strong criticism

Queensland’s Labor opposition has pledged to vote for the government’s “Breach Bail, Go to Jail and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026,” a proposal that would create a new offence carrying a mandatory 12-month minimum prison sentence for people who breach bail on specified charges. The recommendation came from a committee controlled by the Liberal National Party, which urged passage without amendment despite warnings from the Queensland Bar Association that the law could remove incentives to plead guilty and further burden an already overstretched prison system.

Labor representatives Di Farmer, Peter Russo and Melissa McMahon signed a statement acknowledging reservations but committing to support the legislation, noting the party’s prior backing of “adult time” bills. Greens MP Michael Berkman, also on the committee, released a dissenting report condemning the hard-line approach as based on “wilful ignorance.” The move arrives amid internal criticism of Labor leader Steven Miles and a decline in public confidence in the LNP’s crime-focused narrative.