Thursday, 6 February 2025
Bills
Bail Amendment (Re-enactment of Repealed Offences) Bill 2025
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Bills
Bail Amendment (Re-enactment of Repealed Offences) Bill 2025
Introduction
Michael O’BRIEN (Malvern) (09:33): I move:
That I introduce a bill for an act to amend the Bail Act 1977 to re-enact the repealed offences of contravening certain conduct conditions and committing an indictable offence whilst on bail and to make consequential amendments to other acts and for other purposes.
Victoria is in a crime crisis, and Victoria needs stronger bail laws now – now, not after a review or a quasi review or a sham review. We need stronger bail laws today, and that is why this bill should be introduced today.
Labor made a huge error when it weakened bail laws. It let down Victorians’ safety. It left the community exposed. It is why we are seeing this continued cycle of catch and release and serious, serious offences. We can do something about it, and we can do something about it today. The Labor government seems to believe that a condition of bail is an optional extra, that it is something you do not have to bother actually complying with.
It used to be that if you contravened a condition of your bail, that was an offence and you faced a tougher test to get bail again. Labor went and abolished it. That should be reintroduced. On this side of the house we believe that bail is a privilege, not a right, and those who abuse that privilege by breaching their conditions should be accountable. That is our view and it is the view of every single Victorian outside this chamber, and we want the law to reflect that basic principle.
The government also believes that if you commit certain serious offences while you are on bail that is okay. You can face the same weak test to get bail again. You can go out and commit as many burglaries as you like and you do not face a tougher test to get bail again. That is wrong. It is exposing Victorians to harm and it needs to change, and that is what the bill that I seek to introduce will do. We believe that any indictable offence committed whilst on bail should be an offence in itself and, more importantly, should lead to a tougher test for bail for the person responsible.
This is going to be a test for the Labor government. Are they serious about improving community safety, are they serious about fixing bail problems in Victoria, or was it, as I suspect, just a smokescreen ahead of Saturday? Was that announcement of a review or a quasi-review or a sham review simply a last desperate roll of the dice to try and persuade the good people of Werribee that this government realised how badly they stuffed up bail and exposed Victorians to crime in this community? This vote will be the test. If Labor are serious about bail and Labor are serious about community safety, they will vote to let me introduce this bill, because it is serious.
Michael O’BRIEN: If the member for Point Cook does not even want to listen to the debate and does not even want to see the bill, that says more about the Labor Party than anything I could possibly say. It is a very basic test. We have a bill here to strengthen bail laws. We have a bill here to make Victorians safer. Will Labor vote for the introduction of this bill or against it? I think the people of Werribee will be very, very keen to know. I think all Victorians will be very, very keen to know. What is the reason why Labor believes that people should be able to breach conditions of bail with impunity and not be accountable for it, not have any consequences for it? Why does Labor believe that you should be able to breach curfews, you should be able to contact witnesses you have been ordered not to and you should be able to ignore your reporting obligations to police and not have any accountability for it? They are the changes that Labor made to the bail laws, and that is why Victorians are less safe today than they were before Labor made these changes.
The government came out and said they were going to have a review or a quasi-review or a sham review – immediately undermined by the Minister for Police. I hope we do hear from the Minister for Police on this debate. I am sure he has got a lot in his bottom drawer there. Possibly even some of the measures in this bill, Minister, will be in your bottom drawer. I hope the Minister for Police will vote to see this bill. He might find some good ideas in it. I think he actually wants to make stronger bail laws. He has been talking about this for quite some time. He was having a go at the courts recently, saying the courts should do more to stop people getting bail time and time again. You have got to fix the law if you want the courts to apply it, Minister. This is an important bill. It should be voted on positively right now, because if Victorians are going to continue to labour under weak bail laws it will only be the fault of the Allan Labor government. We have got a better plan to strengthen bail laws in Victoria.
Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (09:39): I am absolutely happy to speak on this procedural motion today. We have got a bunch of fairly illiterate people across the way that do not seem to be able to read the history books. They voted down tougher bail laws last year.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Brighton!
Paul EDBROOKE: History shows that you voted down tougher bail laws last year.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Member for Bulleen! Member for South-West Coast! I ask you to give members on their feet a chance to have their say without interjections.
Paul EDBROOKE: When there is an appropriate time to raise this in the government business program, that chance is not taken.
So it is hard to think that this is not a stunt. I think that this government has toughened bail laws and has announced a review.
Members interjecting.
Paul EDBROOKE: We hear the laughter over there. I mean, it is classically politicising an issue, just like the African gangs. For those of us who were around to see that poor, terrible campaign roll out –
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Member for Bulleen!
Paul EDBROOKE: and that fearmongering that discriminated against minorities in our communities and affected them and their families, it was pretty low. We do not want to start a race to the bottom.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: The member for Bulleen, this is your second warning. There will not be any more.
Paul EDBROOKE: This is a stunt, and it should be treated as such. This government has put more police on the beat. We have legislated electronic monitoring and tougher bail laws. The opposition need to have a think about where they were during the debates for those tougher bail laws, electronic monitoring and more police on the beat, instead of just parroting lines from their new leader.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Member for Nepean! Member for South-West Coast!
Paul EDBROOKE: This should be seen as what it is: a race to the bottom. People in the opposition absolutely should be talking to the Victorian Law Reform Commission and police officers, not just the people in their party who are politicising these issues. With that I will leave time for other people to speak about this, but it is just a stunt, and it should be treated as a stunt.
Members interjecting.
Paul EDBROOKE: A bit sensitive, aren’t they, Speaker? This is just a stunt, and it should be treated as such. This house is not immune to this kind of activity. We see it all the time. We saw yesterday a very, very important bill being obfuscated by ‘We don’t like it because of this; we don’t like it because of that.’ There was no focused argument about why we should not vote for this bill.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Opposition! Member for Eureka, that is your second warning. Member for Cranbourne!
Paul EDBROOKE: It was just ‘Let’s politicise it and let’s not vote for it.’ The safety of Victorians is the first priority of this government.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: The member for Cranbourne will leave the chamber for half an hour. The Leader of the Opposition is warned.
Member for Cranbourne withdrew from chamber.
Paul EDBROOKE: Community safety is the first priority of this government, and our history shows it. Their history does not. They are the party that actually sacked the police band. We employ more police. We put in legislation which makes our community safer, and we are proud of it. This is just a stunt.
Cindy McLeish: On a point of order, Speaker, I think the member for Frankston has veered a long way from this procedural motion, and I ask you to bring him back.
The SPEAKER: I think we veered a long way from this procedural motion some time ago.
Paul EDBROOKE: I believe that those who have been listening to this procedural debate with all good sense and reason would vote against it.
Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (09:43): What a surprise that the government would vote against this. What a surprise that the government would not take a hard line on crime in this state, which is out of control – particularly violent crime, particularly youth crime and particularly youth violent crime. You only have to pick up the paper every morning. Every morning you listen to the radio and there is another incident – another incident, whether it was in Wyndham Vale last night, whether it was in Prahran the last couple of days, whether it is in regional areas of the state as well – and so often we subsequently find out that the perpetrator of that crime was on bail at the time. People are sick of it. People are coming up to us on this side time and time again. What is wrong with this state that people can continue to offend, get bail and go and do it again?
Danny O’BRIEN: The member for Nepean is right. Those people must be going to those on that side. They must be getting that feedback as well, I am sure. I must add, too, it is not just people. The other people that are coming to us are the police. The police officers on the beat are sick of the revolving door. The member for Malvern said it well: catch and release policy. The member for Frankston, as did the Treasurer yesterday, talked up their record on police numbers and police resources. We all know that that is a bit of a furphy because we know that there are 1100 vacancies at the moment. There are about 700 off on leave of other sorts. There are nearly 2000 vacancies not being filled in the police force at the moment, but in this context that is not the issue. The coppers are doing their job. The police are arresting the crooks. The police are actually doing the job. They are getting the bad guys of the street, and within 24 hours they are back on the street again. We have seen this time and time again with the horrendous murders of Ash Gordon and Isla Bell. There are so many names that Victorians are sadly becoming familiar with because of this situation.
In my case, in my own electorate, we had a story in the Herald Sun before Christmas about a 14-year-old youth who had been released 50 times – 50 times that youth had been bailed. When I read the story, I thought, ‘Oh hello, they’ve picked up my South Gippsland story,’ because I can tell exactly the same story – different person, but a 14-year-old youth has been caught and released 50 times, according to local police. It is just unconscionable that that is continuing.
The victims are coming up to me in the streets – in a place like Leongatha – and saying how traumatised they are because someone broke into their house, violated their peace and privacy and stole their car. Most of the time, particularly the youth, it is not for criminal intent, it is not because they need the money by selling the car or something. They are just going for a joy ride, putting it on TikTok and thumbing their nose at the state, thumbing their nose at the court system, thumbing their nose at the police and thumbing their nose at this government, because they know – and we literally had one last week saying openly, and it was reported in the media, ‘I know I’ll get away with it. They can’t do anything. They can’t touch me.’
It is just extraordinary that it is the first week of Parliament for the year and the government does not have an agenda and it has to start with, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve sort of messed up crime, so we’re going to do something about it.’ Then it appears that they are actually not doing something about it, because the Minister for Police said, ‘Oh no, there’s no real review. I’ve just got a bottom drawer.’
I discovered yesterday, and in fact the member for Lowan helped point it out, that we actually have a top drawer on this side, as the Opposition – I did not know we had that – and in that top drawer was the member for Malvern’s bill. It has been sitting there for a while. So the Minister for Police did not even need to go to the bottom drawer; he could have just come and asked us, and we would have said, ‘Here it is.’ As the member for Malvern said, I am pretty sure that after he actually has a look at this, what we are proposing in this bill will be pretty much what they will end up doing. I remember standing next to the member for Malvern and speaking when the bail legislation was debated last year and I think in 2023 as well, and I said that exactly this would happen. The government was warned. The member for Malvern made it clear that the decisions that the government took at the time – that we are now trying to bring back with this piece of legislation – would come to haunt the government. They absolutely are. We are seeing it time and time again throughout the state, as I said.
The minister does not need to go to the bottom drawer. There are options here. The government could accept this bill. Just have a look at it. You do not even have to vote for it on a second or third reading, just actually have a look at it. You are not the fount of all wisdom on that side. This is a good bill. The government should support it and crack down on crime and those abusing bail in this state.
The SPEAKER: I remind members to address their comments through the Chair. I would like to be the fount of all wisdom.
Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (09:48): Just to note from the outset of course that this is a procedural motion, and one has to be careful about drawing conclusions with regard to attitudes to community safety when the premise of the discussion that we have before us is about a procedural motion and the way that Parliament will proceed from this moment forward. So I would be very careful on that side with drawing all sorts of conclusions and presumptions. No-one is presenting to be the fount of all wisdom. I would say that no-one in this chamber can pretend to be the fount of all wisdom – that would be rather presumptuous, to say the least – and least of all myself. No-one is overestimating their capacity, although I would like to think we have some capacity in this chamber and that we do achieve some very decent outcomes for the community.
On that note, we do have a government program, and there is a process for the week. But care should be taken, as I was saying at the outset, as to the attitudes that might be being thrown about and flown thrown through the chamber as if to suggest that one side is better than the other when reflecting on an issue as important as community safety.
I would like to thank our hardworking police force. These frontline workers, day in, day out, do the hard work. It is a very challenging career, to say the least, and it does take a certain disposition to be able to handle that which they do on our behalf. I express gratitude on behalf of at least this side of the chamber, noting we do have more police on the beat than any other jurisdiction in the country, and that has to say something.
Also, we have given them significant resources – $4.5 billion – to support them and to support the recruitment of more police as well.
I will note also that the Premier has already spoken significantly with regard to matters of bail so I do not need to repeat those statements. She has been very clear and up-front in that regard. On that note, I will comment for the benefit of this chamber on the seriousness of the matters that we do debate, day in, day out. I would like to suggest community safety, retirement villages and rental reforms – all these matters are very significant and important to community, and we give them the highest priority. I would think that out of respect for an efficient but caring, considerate and compassionate parliamentary process those on the other side would adhere to the parliamentary customs and we could proceed on the government program rather than them trying to interrupt in the manner which we have become accustomed, which does not actually lead to any better outcomes for community but rather serves the purpose of a quick grab on social media, I have no doubt, which is what this is serving here. But as I should affirm, we are not in any way resiling from the significance of the issues that have been raised, but I do think for the betterment of all we should adhere to what is a procedural process in this regard.
David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (09:52): I rise to support the Shadow Attorney-General’s call for the introduction of a bill to ensure that we strengthen bail laws here in Victoria. I think Victorians have had enough of a government that is weak on crime. There is absolutely no focus from this government to consider anything about strengthening bail laws, to be tough on crime and to ensure that there are consequences for those that commit serious crimes in Victoria. We have just seen it time and time again. The Premier has had her head in the sand for far too long when it comes to serious crime in Victoria. We have heard nothing from the Premier. The Premier has had so many opportunities to do something about it but has done absolutely nothing.
Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, of course this is a narrow procedural debate. I understand that members on both sides have been given largesse to canvass issues that might not normally be acceptable in this place. But to actually claim something that is untrue, to stand up here and say things that are not true about the Premier, is not acceptable.
The SPEAKER: Leader of the House, what is your point of order?
Mary-Anne Thomas: My point of order is on relevance to a procedural motion. It is not an opportunity to bag the Premier.
The SPEAKER: The member for Caulfield will come back to the procedural motion. I remind members that this has been a pretty far-ranging debate. I have been very lenient this morning. Try to contain your comments to the procedural motion.
David SOUTHWICK: Thank you, Speaker. This is a very serious matter – law and order is a very serious matter – and there is nothing more urgent than bringing this bill into this house. The fact is we have such a weak agenda that we are running this week. We have got two bills in the house. We have the Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Bill 2024, which we are not even voting on this week. We are not even voting on it. Here is a bill that we had an opportunity to vote on and this government has pushed it into the never-never. Therefore there is an absolute opportunity. If the vilification laws are not going to be voted on this week, we should be urgently talking about bail laws today, and Victorians would expect us to be talking about bail laws today, because every day gone and every violent crime committed is another day when this government has failed to keep the community safe. If this government was concerned about victims, they would act on this now. We do not want to see more blood on the Premier’s and the government’s hands, because that is what is happening. Delays, and murders when people are out on bail – the only people that are responsible for them are this government, this government that has failed to keep Victorians safe.
You only have to read the papers. Every single day there are horrific stories of people that are committing acts of violence while out on bail. In the last 24 hours we have seen in Wyndham Vale seven young people steal cars and hoon up and down the roads, again within an inch of people’s lives, driving these vehicles, and again they were arrested in Wyndham Vale. We saw stabbings in Chapel Street.
Ironically, these are two electorates where there are by-elections this week. One would actually have to ask why all of a sudden now the Premier is saying, ‘You know what? Maybe we might have a review.’ We know why – because the Premier is worried about losing Werribee. If you go to Werribee and if you talk to any of the people that are turning up at the pre-poll and you ask them what their number one issue is at the moment, they will say law and order. They will say they want to ensure that they are kept safe, and they know that Wyndham Vale police station is part-time at the moment because of lack of resources.
Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, on standing order 118, this is not an opportunity for the opposition to make personal reflections or assign motives to members of this place in relation to the bill that is being proposed to be introduced.
The SPEAKER: The member for Caulfield will come back to the procedural motion. Be mindful of not reflecting on members.
David SOUTHWICK: As I was saying, there is nothing more important at the moment than tackling the crime crisis that we have in Victoria. Bail has got out of control. People are being bailed like we have never seen before under this government because of the lack of laws and the lack of consequences. The government have said that they want to do a review. We do not need any more reviews. This bill will do it, and we ask the government to act and the government to act now.
Steve McGHIE (Melton) (09:57): I rise to speak on this procedural motion briefly. I will not take too long to respond to what has already been spoken about. Of course we did introduce tougher bail laws last year. That was opposed by those opposite. Those tougher bail laws are working – not in every circumstance, but they are working. We have also provided more police on the beat, who do an amazing job.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! Member for South-West Coast! Member for Mildura!
Steve McGHIE: I want to commend our Victoria Police members for the great work that they do, and in particular in my electorate – I have a very close working relationship with VicPol members and the commander out there Lisa Prentice-Evans –
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Mildura, this is your second warning.
Steve McGHIE: and the community groups are dealing with the culture of crime and youth crime. But there is one thing that we have missed in this place, the biggest issue that police have to deal with, and that is family violence. We seem to overlook family violence.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the House! Leader of the Opposition! Member for Lowan!
Steve McGHIE: Forty per cent of police work is taken up with family violence. I notice that the electorate of Werribee was raised.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: The member for Melton to continue without assistance.
Steve McGHIE: I will go back to my electorate and the great work that the VicPol members do and the great relationship that I have with them and the community groups that assist our youth. We talk about the crime that is committed, but the work that is done in the background to prevent crime is amazing. We never talk that up, and we need to talk that up and those community groups and the great work that they do.
The Premier has announced a review to be conducted by the Attorney-General and the Minister for Police, and we should allow them to get on with that review and come up with some findings out of that. I think the Premier has also alluded to the fact that no stone will be left unturned in regard to that, so we need to get on with that.
We have a government program this week. We are in the last day of the sitting week. We need to get on with that program, and of course it is clear that we need to go further, and that is what the review will be about.
A member interjected.
Steve McGHIE: Yes, I did say it was working. I did not say it was working at 100 per cent. That is not to say you cannot improve things. It is like a tennis player that has faults. They need to practise and improve. It is a similar thing. You keep practising, practising, practising.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Melton, through the Chair. The member for Point Cook can leave the chamber for half an hour.
Member for Point Cook withdrew from chamber.
Steve McGHIE: As I said, the member for Malvern referred to the electorate of Werribee. Having been out there last Saturday on pre-poll, Werribee has the state-of-the-art police complex that all of the police members want to work from. There are additional police that have been put out there, dealing with the crime out there –
The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.
Steve McGHIE: There are additional police – more than was initially out there.
The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.
Steve McGHIE: Anyway, we will get on and conduct the review. We will get on with the government business program, and we will vote against this motion.
The SPEAKER: I remind members that it would be good if they could be respectful to members on their feet. Even if you do not agree with what they are saying, interjections are not acceptable.
Is leave granted for the member for Brunswick to speak? Leave is not granted.
Assembly divided on motion:
Ayes (24): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Roma Britnell, Martin Cameron, Annabelle Cleeland, Chris Crewther, Sam Groth, Matthew Guy, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Kim O’Keeffe, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, David Southwick, Bill Tilley, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells, Jess Wilson
Noes (50): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Chris Couzens, Jordan Crugnale, Lily D’Ambrosio, Daniela De Martino, Gabrielle de Vietri, Paul Edbrooke, Eden Foster, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Martha Haylett, Mathew Hilakari, Melissa Horne, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, Gary Maas, Alison Marchant, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, Steve McGhie, Paul Mercurio, John Mullahy, Danny Pearson, Tim Read, Pauline Richards, Tim Richardson, Michaela Settle, Ros Spence, Nick Staikos, Natalie Suleyman, Meng Heang Tak, Jackson Taylor, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson
Motion defeated.