Queensland Government Announces Record $560 Million Investment In Not Funding The Thing That Works

BRISBANE – The Queensland Government has unveiled a record $560 million investment in early intervention and rehabilitation, confirming exactly zero of those dollars will go to the Indigenous-led frontline program that has been doing early intervention for thirty-four years.

Murri Watch’s youth cultural support program – a service that has been running since not long after the Royal Commission recommended someone start doing exactly this – has been told its funding is up. A departmental spokesperson said the decision reflects a commitment to “22 First Nations-led organisations delivering 28 new services”, which is between zero and 22 more organisations than were asked about it.

“We inherited a broken system and we are fixing it with bold new programs,” a spokesperson said from behind a whiteboard covered in phrases like “wraparound” and “pilot phase” and “place-based”.

Advocates noted Murri Watch is already wraparound, already place-based, and already three decades past its pilot phase. This was described as a concerning finding which would be considered during the next stakeholder engagement workshop, pencilled in for somewhere between now and never.

Senior figures in the sector said the move achieves a rare bureaucratic feat – delivering a record investment in youth justice reform while simultaneously defunding the part of it that actually has community trust built in.

“It’s like announcing a record meal and burning the kitchen down” one advocate said.

The Minister has agreed to meet Murri Watch later this month. The department confirmed the meeting will include a Welcome to Country, coffee, and a firm commitment to listen respectfully before doing whatever was going to happen anyway.