By MEMBER FOR CAPALABA RUSSELL FIELD
THIS Australia Day marks five long years since Matt, Kate, and Miles—three beautiful, innocent souls—were taken from us.
January 26 has forever changed for our families.
It is a time of personal reflection about what could and should have been.
Our grief remains heavy, our memories have not waned, and our pain has not faded.
It feels like only yesterday.
Our loss not only made us stronger but also changed us—changed me.
While it may have been easy to ‘ride off into the sunset’ like many grey nomads, I chose to stay and choose purpose.
I chose to make change.
I felt something was seriously wrong with a system that allows someone to kill three people and receive just six years in jail.
It will go down in history as one of the greatest travesties of justice this state has ever seen.
The system had to change.
That’s when I first considered running for public office—not seriously at first, but I’ve always believed that if you want something done, you must do it yourself.
Everything changed in August 2023 when my Labor predecessor dismissed youth crime as a “media beat-up”.
The comment was insensitive and offensive, not only to our family but to every victim affected by youth crime.
It revealed how out of touch the former Government was with the community.
That was the moment I decided to run.
I had skin in the game and couldn’t stand by doing nothing.
I had an opportunity to drive real change—a change for the better—and I knew that even if unsuccessful, I could sleep easy knowing I’d done my best.
It was my decision.
I wasn’t forced, used, or coerced by anyone, as some continue to suggest.
If someone were in my shoes, what would they do?
How would they cope?
Only I know why I chose this path, with my family’s support.
It was the right thing to do.
I am forever grateful that the people of Capalaba supported me, enabling the changes so desperately needed like Adult Crime, Adult Time, and Jack’s Law.
But there is still a long way to go.
I know nothing I say or do will bring back our family, but it may help someone else.
Sadly, many families share a similar pain and were let down by the former Government’s broken systems and empty promises.
We weren’t even given the decency of a phone call.
People deal with grief differently, and this is my way: turning it into purpose.
The more I speak about it, the stronger I become.
Injustices need to be brought out in the open, so they are confronted, corrected, and never allowed to take root again, because hope alone isn’t enough; action is what prevents them from being repeated.
