Kununurra crime wave: Police Minister Reece Whitby says young criminals need ‘basketball and a feed, not jail’

The Police Minister says he would rather give young criminals “a feed” and “a basketball” than send them to jail, insisting that locking them up is not a long-term solution to the youth crime gripping parts of WA’s north. Reece Whitby blamed “generational dysfunction” for a recent crime spree in Kununurra and said the juvenile offenders need support to keep them — and their communities — safe. “I’d rather give them a feed, give them a basketball and having them engage in those sorts of activities,” Mr Whitby told 6PR on Monday. “These are kids, they’re not teenagers. They are 10 or under and what do you do with them? Is it really the answer putting them in a jail? “Chucking them inside, yes we have to keep the community safe. Yes, we have to keep them safe. But we have to be really careful about these very young kids. It’s a devil of an issue, it is deeply complex and we’re doing everything we can.” Police have deployed the specialist regional operations group, that is also used to respond to riots, to Kununurra after 17 arrests over a spate of car thefts — including a 10-year-old boy who was arrested twice in two nights. Statistics reveal crime rates increased 6 per cent in Kununurra in 2024-25, while overall youth offending across the State is trending down. Children’s Court President Hylton Quail told The West Australian Kununurra is lacking “community policing”, that has been credited for driving crime rates down in Fitzroy Crossing, 600km away. “Where you deliver these programs, they work. So I would like to see something like this in every town,” Judge Quail said. Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Col Blanch said on Sunday that questions about a 10-year-old at night should be “directed elsewhere”. “I don’t think that’s a police conversation. Our job is to arrest people committing crime and we’ve done exactly that, twice,” he said. The Department of Communities confirmed it is meeting with families in Kununurra this week, but insisted it is a “whole of government” responsibility and refused to call it a result of “failed” parenting. “A lot of these parents have their own traumas,” Communities Director-General Mike Rowe said, on ABC Radio. “We will bring children into care, but that is our least preferred option. We work really, really hard to try and make sure that parents are safe at home, and that children are safe at home with their parents.” Acting Premier Rita Saffioti confirmed the State Government would investigate whether a proposed “night space” for children in Kununurra — that has been promised at a cost of $6 million — could be fast-tracked. “We talked to the relevant ministers just now in relation to this,” she said on Monday morning. “It’s really identifying and partnering with a good local organisation to support the delivery of those programs.” The Marra Worra Worra Aboriginal Corporation wants to buy 20 transportable units, dis-used since the 2023 floods recovery, to set up a school hostel in Halls Creek - where crime rates have surged 25 per cent. The State Government asked for registrations of interest, which closed in July, but is yet to make a decision, while locals say children are left roaming the streets at night. “There’s been a lot of interest across the region. And it falls across a number of agencies,” Housing Minister John Carey said. “Obviously we want to get them out, but it is a competitive process. And we just don’t want to hand over these temporary facilities and then they’re not maintained and, ultimately, just become littered across the landscape. “We made that decision at the cost to the State that we do want to use them for community purposes and we’re working through that.”