Queensland's attorney-general has backed a police appeal against a community service sentence handed to a man over an unprovoked coward punch.
Michael Haubauer required cosmetic facial surgery and medical care, costing $24,000, following the violent altercation at a Noosa pub in September last year.
The 23-year-old was viciously assaulted by law clerk Virgil Power, who last week escaped a conviction over the attack.
Sunshine Coast magistrate Bernadette Callaghan gave Power a 240-hour community service sentence and imposed a $24,000 fine, which police are now appealing.
Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said he would have appealed the sentence if the police hadn't acted.
"I was reviewing it if the police didn't choose to," he told reporters on Friday.
"I was concerned about the particular sentence and the comments made by the particular judicial officer.
"We have to tackle the issues of coward punches and alcohol-related violence."
The appeal comes a week after the Queensland government announced plans for one-punch killers to be jailed for life.
Premier Campbell Newman wants those found guilty of fatal king-hits to serve at least 80 per cent of their life sentences behind bars, before being eligible for parole.
Police Minister Jack Dempsey said Power's sentence for the unprovoked attack did not reflect community expectations.
"The community was outraged by this horrific attack and rightly so. It was a sickening attack," he said.
