Thursday, 6 March 2025

Crime

Jess WILSON (Kew) (17:25): (1055) My adjournment is to the Premier, and the action I seek is for the Premier to strengthen Victoria’s laws by banning machetes and fixing our broken bail system. Victoria is in the grip of a worsening crime crisis, and Labor’s weak laws are to blame. Just as firearm owners are required to comply with strict regulations, so too should anyone in the possession of a machete. Yet machetes remain easily accessible, making them a weapon of choice for violent criminals and home invaders. Their availability and misuse must be addressed by this government.

Last year the government weakened Victoria’s bail laws, and they have failed to take decisive action to ban machetes. The consequences have been devastating, particularly with the surge in youth crime. In my local community alone aggravated robbery is up 57 per cent, residential aggravated burglary is up 43 per cent and theft from retail stores is up 33 per cent. Only last week a terrifying home invasion occurred in Sackville Street, Kew. Parents awoke to find masked youth offenders, who were out on bail, standing in their bedroom demanding that they hand over their car keys. This is the reality of Labor’s soft-on-crime approach.

Another violent home invasion happened just down the road the same night, and earlier this week local residents captured an offender brandishing a machete outside their home as more masked offenders followed. If it had not been for their dog barking, who knows what could have happened? They are rightly terrified, their children are rightly terrified, each and every night. When I spoke to them after the incident they asked, ‘Why won’t the government actually take action to stop this happening in our state?’

Even the Premier has conceded that Victoria’s current laws are not working. Yet it was this very government that weakened them, allowing repeat offenders to roam free. Labor have proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted to keep Victorians safe. My electorate office has been inundated with stories from residents sharing their concerns about community safety. There is a real sense of fear among the people I represent. That is why I am hosting a community forum later this month to provide residents with the opportunity to share their concerns and discuss practical solutions to combat crime together.

Premier, how have you let it come to this? Victorians should not have to lie awake at night in fear because your government has created a crime crisis in this state. The government must take immediate action. The first step to restoring law and order in this state is to ban machetes and fix Victoria’s bail laws. Victorians should not have to wait any longer for this government to take action to tackle the crime crisis in this state. Premier, this is about ensuring the safety of every Victorian. The time for excuses, the time for inaction, is over. The Premier must designate machetes as prohibited weapons and keep Victorians safe.