Qld opposition promises major crime squad

The Queensland opposition says it will establish a permanent major crime squad on the Gold Coast to tackle what it calls an "epidemic of armed robberies and an explosion in drug-related crime".

Liberal National Party (LNP) leader Campbell Newman said the Gold Coast was the sixth biggest city in the country and second biggest in Queensland, but it had been starved of police resources by the Bligh government.

"In 2009/10 there were 505 robberies reported in the Gold Coast and Logan, but only 39 per cent were solved," Mr Newman said in a statement on Wednesday.

He said drug crime on the Gold Coast and in the adjoining city of Logan had jumped over the past decade, soaring from 4625 offences in 1999/2000 to 7694 in 2009/10 - a 66 per cent increase.

Mr Newman said the Bligh government had no idea what police needed to tackle the problem.

"Gold Coast residents and businesses want action, not just lip service from Labor," he said.

An LNP government would spend $4 million over four years to fund the major crime squad, he added.

He said the Gold Coast was home to 540,000 people, yet Tasmania, with a population of about 510,000, had more police.

"You've got 40 per cent more police down there in Tasmania for a smaller population," Mr Newman said.

"The Tasmanian crime stats in terms of armed hold-ups are much lower than down here on the coast," he told AAP.

Mr Newman said there had been 46 armed hold-ups on the Gold Coast so far this year.

Premier Anna Bligh said senior police were opposed to the establishment of a major crime squad on the coast south of Brisbane.

She said a police task force already was tackling property crime on the coast and additional detectives had been deployed after a spate of armed robberies.

Acting commissioner Ian Stewart had assured her there was no need for a specialist unit, despite 46 hold-ups on the Gold Coast since the beginning of this year, 21 of those in April alone.

"He is satisfied there are sufficient resources to catch those responsible for these armed robberies," Ms Bligh told reporters.

Mr Newman said both the cabinet and senior police ranks were split over the need for a major crime squad.

"What we're hearing from the line police down here is they need the resource, they need to focus on the problem," he said.