By Savannah Meacham and Fraser Barton in Brisbane

Heartache and tragedy have led to harsher sentences for juveniles in a crime-hit state after a controversial election pledge became law.

But critics fear the Queensland government’s “adult crime, adult time” legislation will only bring more pain.

The courage of crime victims was saluted by the premier before the laws passed in the final parliament sitting of 2024 late on Thursday.

David Crisafulli was flanked by the likes of Cindy Micallef, whose 70-year-old mother Vyleen White was fatally stabbed outside a shopping centre in an alleged car jacking.

“What happened with mum could have been prevented. We all know that and it’s a case of no one else should be dying in vain,” she told reporters.

“The heart of our family isn’t here and for us the thought of that is devastating.

“However, fighting for others and making sure no one else has to go through this, is what I stood for.”

Mr Crisafulli said the likes of Ms Micallef had inspired his Liberal National Party’s push for the laws, with children as young as 10 now facing adult sentences for serious crimes.

Queensland’s Human Rights Act will need to be overridden for a third time because of the legislation.

“They have stood with us the entire way through our quest to make sure that we brought this change to Queensland,” Mr Crisafulli said of the state’s crime victims.

“Through their heartache, through their tragedy, they have driven change for Queenslanders.”

The LNP campaigned hard on youth crime before claiming the October 26 election, ending Labor’s nine-year reign.

Barely two months later it has delivered a key election pledge, ushering in the polarising juvenile justice laws by Christmas after Thursday’s 89-2 parliament vote.

“Today we take the first step towards striking back against the youth crime crisis,” Mr Crisafulli said.

The Labor opposition attempted to delay the vote until after 9pm, arguing the government had made amendments earlier in the week that “constrained the rights of members”.

But given the LNP holds a majority, the motion was scrapped.

The laws underwent a week of committee scrutiny after the government urgently introduced the legislation. Bills are usually scrutinised for six weeks.

The laws have also been met with opposition outside parliament, with human rights advocates arguing they won’t make the community safer.

The LNP had previously conceded the laws would violate human rights, increase pressure on already packed detention centres, “directly discriminate” against children and impact Indigenous kids.

“This is actually going to more deeply entrench the kinds of criminogenic circumstances that lead young people to offend in the first place,” Greens MP Michael Berkman told reporters on Thursday.

“It’s going to make the whole state less safe in the long term.”

But the premier on Thursday said the laws were necessary, saying there were more than 50,000 youth crime offences in the last year.

“There will be challenges in the short term but this is a line in the sand while we work on early intervention and rehabilitation,” he said.

“We must deliver a youth justice system that puts victims first.”

One of those victims breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday.

Russell Field lost his son Matthew and daughter-in-law Kate Leadbetter – pregnant with unborn child Miles – when they were struck by a stolen car driven by a juvenile on Australia Day 2021.

Now an LNP MP, Mr Field said the laws sent a “crystal clear” message to juveniles committing serious crimes.

“You will serve adult time,” he said.