Queensland’s Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard has been forced to defend the state’s youth justice laws, in the wake of the death of a Queensland mother.

41-year-old Emma Lovell and her husband Lee were sleeping when they were woken by their dogs barking late on Monday night.

The pair confronted two people at their North Lakes home when a scuffle broke out.

Ms Lovell died after she was allegedly stabbed.

Speaking broadly, Ms Linard agreed there was more work to be done.

“The community absolutely has a right to feel safe in their own homes, and they have a right to feel young people will be law abiding and when they are not they will be held to account,” she told Peter Fegan, filling in on 4BC Mornings.

She said Queensland has the toughest bail laws in the country.

“As police said yesterday we know it’s a community issue, we know it takes a community response, we know that we have to have all agencies working together to seek to address it and that’s why the Premier appointed a youth justice taskforce last year,” she said.

“We know that we’ve got more work to do Peter … we have to continue to absolutely focus on serious repeat offenders.”

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