Murray MP welcomes regional, rural crime inquiry but opposes bail laws

It comes after she passionately opposed new bail law reforms in NSW Parliament last week.

The inquiry, which was greenlit by the NSW Legislative Assembly's law and safety committee recently, is expected to investigate the drivers of regional youth crime and actions the state government can take to improve community safety.

Last week it was announced the state government will roll out changes that make posting and boasting about car thefts or break-ins a crime in NSW.

Bail laws will also be strengthened to include a temporary, extra bail test for older children charged with certain serious offences while they are already before the courts on similar allegations.

Mrs Dalton feels it's important youth crime, penalties and bail conditions in rural, remote and regional NSW have greater oversight, saying she hopes the inquiry will do just that.

"We need to find pathways to keep kids out of prison while ensuring the safety of our communities," Mrs Dalton said.

"I hope this inquiry will provide positive outcomes for the most vulnerable youths in the bush.

"With the state's new bail laws for young offenders having passed in parliament recently, I'm hoping this inquiry will shine a light on law enforcement and juvenile detention."

Addressing NSW Parliament last week, Mrs Dalton said she believes the changes to bail laws would lead to an increase in crime instead of a decrease.

"I have deep concerns these changes proposed by the Minns government will backfire," she said.

"This Bill creates sweeping new changes to youth bail laws that will make it harder for children aged over 14 years and under 18 years to get bail.

"Study after study has shown the longer a young offender spends in remand, the more likely they are to re-offend," she said.

She said sending young people into remand is "akin to sending them to crime school."

"Make no mistake - there are good people who work in our remand system but that doesn't prevent the system from being a criminal training ground," Mrs Dalton said.

"Remand is a long distance from my electorate... that's hours and hours away from their home and their family.

"The real solution comes down to prevention and right now we are not doing the basic things we need to do to prevent crime."

She pointed to the closure of Tirkandi Inaburra near Coleambally as a setback in that space.

"Even though this school was set up to provide Indigenous students with a framework to prevent them from engaging and reengaging with the criminal justice system, it has closed down," Mrs Dalton said.

"It worked incredibly well but now it's gone.

"In my region we should be forgetting about changes to bail laws and start with proper drug treatment and mental units in the Murray first," she said.

As well as looking at the root causes of youth crime, the inquiry will also examine the wraparound and diversionary services available for youth and families in the regions.

The deadline for public submissions to the Committee is May 31.

The inquiry will report back in February 2025.