Tuesday, 18 June 2024

Youth crime

Michael O’BRIEN (Malvern) (14:13): My question is to the Premier. Last year alone, 2770 youths breached their bail conditions – a rate of one every 3 hours. One 14-year-old had 388 charges laid, his alleged crimes including six burglaries in 6 hours, stealing a woman’s car at knifepoint, breaking into a home with a baby inside and a smash-and-grab with a sledgehammer. Premier, why are vulnerable Victorians paying the price for Labor’s failure to manage this state’s youth crime crisis?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:14): I thank the member for Malvern for his question, and firstly, at the outset, can I acknowledge that for anyone who has been a victim of crime I can understand deeply their distress as a result of being a victim of crime. That is why today, as we have announced this morning with the Minister for Youth Justice, the Attorney-General and the Minister for Police, the new Youth Justice Bill that we will be introducing to the Parliament includes for the first time new sentencing principles that have a recognition of the impact of the crime on victims and also the introduction of a new youth justice victims register. It is indeed recognising that the impact on victims, regardless of the age of the person who perpetrated the crime, absolutely does need to be recognised in considering the sentencing requirements of that crime.

Can I also, though, go on to say that the member is not accurately representing the true nature of what is going on here in Victoria. Victoria has one of the lowest rates of youth offending –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, I ask you to draw the Premier back to the question. This down talking of crime is very offensive to victims in the community.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The Premier was being relevant.

Jacinta ALLAN: I was merely using the opportunity to correct some of the claims the member made. Victoria has one of the lowest youth crime rates in Australia. It is lower than New South Wales. However, as the government has acknowledged on a number of occasions, we are seeing in terms of the rates of youth offending that we have a smaller cohort of younger people who are engaging in repeat offending behaviour, and that is why –

Michael O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is not just debating the question; she is gaslighting Victorians.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The Premier was being relevant to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: That is why with the introduction of a new Youth Justice Bill we are firmly focused on taking strong action against that repeat behaviour, whether it is through mandatory diversion requirements, which I think are something that the opposition may have also called for, or indeed the introduction of electronic monitoring to ensure that young people do comply with their bail requirements. Also, this new Youth Justice Act is absolutely designed to ensure community safety is front and centre, which is why there are those requirements around the impact on victims that I spoke to earlier.

I would hope that given the complexity and the seriousness of this nature the opposition can find a way to support the reforms we are introducing, because it does go to our focus on how we can reduce offending and strengthen community safety but also importantly divert young offenders at the lower levels away from a life of crime, because the evidence tells us that is what best protects community safety.

Michael O’BRIEN (Malvern) (14:18): Crime is increasing across Victoria, with decade-high increases in violent and youth crime. Will the Premier confirm that nearly 50 per cent of all crimes are now going unsolved in Victoria at the same time as the government has cut support to Victoria Police?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:18): I will not confirm numbers that are thrown across this chamber by the member for Malvern. I would hope, given the history of the member for Malvern in this policy space, that he would come to this debate with a more mature outlook on how we can work together to address rates of youth offending. What I can say to the member for Malvern is that we have invested $4.6 billion and provided 3600 extra Victoria Police, and the academy is full in terms of new graduates coming through the system. The Youth Justice Bill we have introduced today will strengthen the tools and the resources Victoria Police have to deal with youth offending and also ‍–

Michael O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is debating the question. In this last budget the Premier has cut funding to the courts and crime prevention.

The SPEAKER: The Premier was being relevant to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: Indeed. We acknowledge this is a critically important area of policy, which is why the work is being done. The bill will be before the Parliament this week, and we hope the opposition can find their way to supporting it.