Hundreds of residents of a remote northwest Queensland town have signed a petition calling for a curfew to reduce juvenile crime.
A 10-year-old boy on Monday faced court on arson charges after allegedly lighting a fire that burned down the Mt Isa police beat shopfront early on Saturday morning.
The blaze also destroyed a patrol car.
The boy was remanded in custody until Thursday.
But residents say it is merely the latest in a string of incidents and are calling for a town meeting to address juvenile crime.
"All the vandalism, arson, rock throwing and thieving is a sign something is out of control in Mt Isa," Mary Gerber wrote on an online petition on change.org which had attracted 836 signatures on Tuesday morning.
The lack of parental supervision was to blame for the problem, Ms Gerber said.
"Something has to be done to give the police power to fix the problem."
Ms Gerber proposed solutions including a 7pm curfew for unsupervised children under the age of 14 and an 11pm curfew for teenagers between 15 and 18 years of age.
Those who break the rules should be ordered to pay a fine or perform community service, she suggested.
Mt Isa mayor Tony McGrady said when someone becomes a parent, they need to accept responsibility.
"Any parent who goes to bed at night and hasn't satisfied themselves that their kids are in bed don't deserve to have the name parent after their own name," he told ABC radio.
In 2008, former mayor John Moloney unsuccessfully tried to introduce a curfew.
He believes if a curfew had been in place, the 10-year-old boy wouldn't have had the opportunity to commit his alleged crime.
"Something has to be done to make the parents take responsibility," he said.
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