Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Control of Weapons Amendment (Machetes) Bill 2023

Introduction

Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (12:11): I move:

That I introduce a bill for an act to amend the Control of Weapons Act 1990 in relation to machetes and for other purposes.

In doing so, it is a very important bill to have debated as soon as possible because it is genuinely a bill that lives count on. We have seen too often in our community machetes being used as weapons in areas that they should not be. Too many people in this Parliament represent communities where machetes have been used in vicious and violent attacks on young people by young people, communities where we have seen deaths, serious injuries and armed robberies. That is why I am introducing this today and seeking the government’s support that this goes on the government business program as soon as possible. We are talking about young people committing crimes, no longer just using the small knives they used to use but carrying around machetes, carrying around an effective tool that people used to use on their farms or on their properties and that we are now seeing used on the streets in vicious crimes.

We cannot afford to delay this. We cannot afford for the government, who oppose every single idea from the opposition as a bad idea, to then themselves start talking about it in the future. What we have seen recently is the government have now had to come out and say that they are talking about this bill and having it put on the government business program in the near future because the Chief Commissioner of Police has come out and specifically said that they need to work with the government to ensure that machetes can be banned here in our state. When we raised this a couple of months ago and said this is an issue because it was not just in the media but was everywhere you looked, where you started to see crimes happening with machetes, we said we would act, and we did. It is not waiting until such time when it is too late. The opposition have already done the work. The bill is ready to go. Victoria Police have continuously said that they need support from government to have the powers to protect the community. It is this kind of legislation that will give them these powers. We already understand there is a Control of Weapons Act, and a machete is a controlled weapon. What we need is to give the police the powers to make it a prohibited weapon so they can act, so when they see young people or when they see any person walking around on the street with a machete without any reason, they can act and ensure that they can take them off the street.

We have seen this too often, not just out in the northern suburbs but all over this state. I know the member for Brighton can speak of experiences where he has spoken to people from his community. I know I can say I have spoken to people in my community about people having come into homes in home invasions with machetes ready to commit crimes, which actually sends the fear of God through people whilst they are in their own homes. Our streets, our homes and our communities should and must be safe, and the only way to do that, the only way to make sure that we can keep our communities safe, is for this Parliament to debate legislation that gives police the powers to ensure that they can act when they need to, when they see people in the streets with machetes.

We have seen it on channels 7, 9 and 10 and on the ABC. You have seen it in the Herald Sun and the Age. You have seen it in the Guardian. It does not matter what media you refer to. There is no bias in this. When you speak to anyone in the media, they will tell you one of the biggest issues here in this state when it comes to crime is the increase in the use of knives and part of that is around machetes. For anyone in this place who has not read the book – the Deputy Premier and I have both read it – that comes from an author over in America, which is Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun, it is about the process of the elevation of effectively using weapons on the street, as we have seen happen over in America. We are in a better position here when it comes to gun laws – hopefully we do not go there – but what we are seeing is a change. Les Twentyman has spoken about this recently: that change from effectively using a small knife to using a machete out on the streets, because they want to react with a bigger weapon to prove their strength and to put fear into those that they are going up against – or what we are seeing most at the moment, which is many carrying knives or machetes for self-defence. But we know young people do not have the comprehension at the time they pull out that weapon in self-defence that they still can be charged with the offences of manslaughter, murder and other serious injury charges if they use those weapons when they are out and about. It does not matter if it is self-defence.

We need to have this bill debated as soon as possible. We need to send an education message to those kids that it is not okay to carry a machete when you are on a metropolitan street in Melbourne, and we need to give Victoria Police the powers to ensure that they can take those weapons off the street to make our entire community safer.

Darren CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (12:16): I rise this afternoon to make a very short contribution on this proposed bill by the member for Berwick. The realities in a Westminster system are that political parties have the opportunity to take a set of policies to the Victorian people and to seek a mandate. That is what this government has done successfully in 2014 and 2018 and 2022. One of the great privileges in our state is those that take a thoughtful platform of policies to the Victorian people will always be given that great opportunity to govern in this state and to form the government of the day. If the member for Berwick wants to bring forward bills successfully to this chamber, then what he needs to do with his colleagues is to go and get the numbers. You get the numbers by taking forward thoughtful, considered policies – not scare campaigns as we have seen them do time and time again, election after election, because this has been their consistent approach. Now, when you look at the law and order agenda of this government, we have made record investments into supporting the police of our state to give them the tools that they need and to give them the police officers that they need.

When we look at when the Liberal Party was given that great gift of government, they made $100 million cuts to the Victorian police budget, and they did not employ one single additional police officer in the state of Victoria – even though through that period of time the Victorian community was growing, and they deserved to have a political party with a thoughtful election commitment. That is what we had. We brought forward significant investment in the Victorian police, and we will continue at every opportunity. When the Victorian police seek from our government things that they would like – further additional tools that they would like – we will consider that, we will reflect on that and we will act on the advice of our Victorian police. That is what the Victorian community expects of this government, and that is what we are doing.

Every single week that we come here to this place, having been given that great opportunity to implement the reform agenda that we took to the Victorian people last election late last year, what we see constantly, time after time, every single week, are juvenile political stunts from those on the other side. At every opportunity they seek to frustrate the government on the agenda that we took to the Victorian people and that was endorsed by the Victorian people. And I must say, when I reflect on the by-election in Mulgrave just a few weekends ago, what we saw was again an electoral test put to this government, and we succeeded.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a procedural debate, and I would ask you to bring the member back to that debate.

Matthew Guy interjected.

The SPEAKER: The member for Bulleen can leave the chamber for half an hour. Member for South Barwon, I would ask you to come back to the matter before the Chair.

Member for Bulleen withdrew from chamber.

Darren CHEESEMAN: Thank you. As I say, the realities are that the Victorian people endorsed the things that we took to them at the 2022 election. We are going to continue to deliver on the things that we took to the Victorian people.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:21): I rise in support of the member for Berwick’s introduction of the Control of Weapons Amendment (Machetes) Bill 2023. I strongly support the member in his introduction and urge that the house consider that both today and on the government business program. One of the hardest calls that I have made as a member was to speak to a family only a few short weeks ago who had woken in the morning to head out to have their breakfast. It was just before 7 o’clock, and as they walked out to the kitchen, the partner of one of the daughters who lived in the home walked out to have breakfast, get some Weeties, and there were two home invaders in the kitchen with giant machetes. What the member for Berwick has proposed to do is to say we cannot accept that – we cannot accept these types of weapons being used in the way that they are – because every single person deserves to be safe in their home. That is what this bill is about: every single person deserves to be safe on the streets.

So to hear the government talk politics instead of dealing with this important matter of community safety appals me, and I am sure it appals all Victorians. This is an important bill. This important bill goes to the heart of ensuring that we have a community that is safe. We have seen these debates over recent weeks where the coalition has proposed a number of important reforms around enhancing community safety, and every time the coalition has proposed important reforms, the government has said no. Many of these reforms have come at the behest of Victoria Police. Last week we spoke about move-on laws, and the member for Malvern proposed important reforms in relation to those matters. ‘No,’ said the government.

The coalition is proposing, constructively, important ways to keep our community safe. No family should wake up to find home invaders in their kitchen with giant machetes, and what this bill would do is send an important signal and change the law to ensure that carrying that weapon is equivalent to the crime it deserves to be. That is what this bill is about. Why is it so important to introduce it now? Because this bill should be on the government business program today. Though we will speak to that at a later point in the debate, we know that the government business program that is proposed this week is an absolute shambles. So there is the opportunity to include this bill on the government business program. There certainly is time to include this bill and debate it on the government business program, but instead what does the government say on this important proposed reform? ‘No.’

Sadly, it is all about politics; it is not about looking at a proposal and saying to the family in my community ‘You shouldn’t wake up to two people with giant machetes in their hands as you go out to have your cereal’. This is not right. We need to ensure that this behaviour is stamped out. We need to ensure that the laws send the message to criminals that it is a prohibited weapon. In my community there has been a 578 per cent increase in aggravated home burglaries – 578 per cent. It is extraordinary. And the government have gone very quiet over that, that Brighton has now got more aggravated home burglaries than any other inner-city suburb. These things matter.

Members interjecting.

James NEWBURY: I am being asked by the government about local police, who do a wonderful job. It is a shame that the government has just shut 43 police stations at night, and we have got a missing police minister –

Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, you earlier ruled that speakers talk to the narrow procedural motion before us. I would put to you that the member for Brighton is using this as an opportunity to score political points and is not actually addressing the proposed bill by the member for –

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the House! The member for Laverton.

Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (12:27): I too rise to join this procedural debate. It is always interesting following the member for Brighton. He talked about quite serious crimes that have been committed in his local community and spoke about that so passionately, and I say to the member for Brighton: I know that you feel that very strongly. I think that when we talk about these things it is certainly not a laughing matter. I note that the member for Bulleen found himself cracking jokes and laughing so hard he was removed from the chamber. The member for Bulleen has gone to an election twice in this place on being tough on crime, and the Victorian community showed those opposite exactly what they thought –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, again, this is an important debate around community safety, and it is a procedural debate. I would ask that you bring the member back to that procedural debate.

The SPEAKER: I note the member for Brighton strayed somewhat from the procedural debate. The member for Laverton to speak to the motion before the house.

Sarah CONNOLLY: Well, I know the member for Brighton is an emotional type of fellow. There is nothing wrong with that; I welcome that. But what I do want to say –

Cindy McLeish: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, this is a procedural debate. The member for Laverton has twice used this opportunity to attack the opposition. It is a tight procedural debate, and I ask you to bring her back to this debate.

The SPEAKER: Members know that this is a procedural debate, and I ask the member for Laverton to come back to the motion.

Sarah CONNOLLY: I was then going to talk about the seriousness of this matter and the motion before the house and the bill that the member for Berwick is trying to introduce here. I am sure those opposite will not like it when I take a trip down memory lane and talk about the $100 million they ripped from Victoria Police last time they were in government. But it is no surprise to me that it has taken, what, since the last time those opposite were in government – nine years – to bring before this house a proposed bill at the, I dare say, eleventh hour, in the last sitting week for this year. It cannot be seen as anything else than a political stunt, and it is something I say –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a procedural debate and one that I am deeply, deeply concerned about, and I would ask you to bring the member back to the issue.

The SPEAKER: The member was being relevant to the procedural motion.

Sarah CONNOLLY: Knife crime and machetes are things that I take extremely seriously as the member for Laverton. As I am sure that you will have read, even in recent days we have had serious crimes and deaths in our local community attributed to knives, machetes and other things. This is a serious problem. I am not laughing about this. What I find so outrageous is that it is a bill that is being proposed and debated as part of a procedural debate at the eleventh if not 12th hour here in 2023. It is an absolute disgrace to stand here and not have what I consider a really serious debate and conversation about these things. People have been seriously injured. It is exactly the reason why, with the Minister for Police, I went and sat down –

Members interjecting.

Sarah CONNOLLY: He is not missing; he is doing things like sitting down with local members at the local police stations and talking about these matters and in all seriousness having conversations face to face about it. We are not a government that is ripping hundreds of millions of dollars out of Victoria Police. We have invested and we have recruited extra police. This is nothing other than a political stunt by those opposite. After the last 12 months, for people who were not here in previous terms of Parliament, it is just another stunt that we have grown so accustomed to – those opposite desperately trying to gain traction here in this place and indeed across their own local communities.

A member interjected.

Sarah CONNOLLY: It is not arrogance. As someone who speaks with an understanding of exactly what happens in the community with this – (Time expired)

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (12:32): I rise to support the member for Berwick’s bill before the house, the Control of Weapons Amendment (Machetes) Bill 2023, which is a very important bill at this particular time when we are seeing a rise in serious attacks on our streets using knives and, in particular in this instance, machetes. I want to bring to the house’s attention an incident that happened in my electorate on 4 September, where Benjamin, a 14-year-old boy, leaving Glen Eira College with a group of his friends, was targeted by a group of youths wielding machetes, abducted in a stolen vehicle and then tossed out. He hit his head and was in ICU for months, and he is just reacquainting himself back in the school in a very slow but careful way. Benjamin and his family will never, ever be the same. The same group targeted a number of kids on the way to school. A 14-year-old girl was also attacked. Her phone was taken. Three youths were wielding big machetes and using them to scare and traumatise these young kids simply going back home at the end of their school day.

No-one should have these machetes on the streets. There is no reason for them. As the member for Berwick has said, these were used as farming devices, not as weapons against others. I would have thought, having a really constructive piece of legislation like the coalition is proposing, that the government would get on board. It has been months now since that attack, and I commend the member for Berwick for reacting quickly and responsively to get the bill before the house.

We want to work together on these things, and it is disappointing that the government seems to think it is some kind of stunt. I mean, it is appalling and offensive to most Victorians to think that we are trying to be constructive and then the government just dismiss it out of hand. The previous member that was on her feet was talking, again, about how this is nothing but a stunt. The same member was in the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee where the Chief Commissioner of Police –

The SPEAKER: Member for Caulfield, I would ask you to speak to the motion before the house.

David SOUTHWICK: Thank you – said that this was an important measure and that he and the police were working on it with the government. If the government are working on something like this or at least considering something like this, why are they ridiculing the very motion that we want to get before the house today? This is timely. We do not want to wait until the summer. We do not want to wait until there is another knife crime. We do not want to wait until we have to apologise to other parents because this government has let them down. We should not wait for that. This is the responsible thing to do.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, the member on his feet has strayed from speaking to the narrow procedural motion as has been defined by you, and I ask you to ask him to come back to speaking on this narrow procedural motion.

The SPEAKER: The member for Caulfield was being relevant.

David SOUTHWICK: This is all about timeliness. This is all about bringing this bill on now, not before it is too late, not before another knife crime, not before, heaven forbid, a death. This is about getting on with it and doing something after we have seen the traumatic situation unfolding on our streets already. The member for Laverton has already said that there has been an increase and a spike in this type of thing in her electorate. We sympathise with everybody that has got the same kinds of situations in their electorate. So the time to act is now. Let us get on with it and do it.

This is a very constructive bill that has been put before the house. We do not want to apologise to more families that are being traumatised by those that are using machetes as weapons. I want to be able to go back to Benjamin and his family and say we have actually done something about this; we have worked together constructively with the government and done something about it. Do not ridicule. Do not play politics with people’s lives. How about doing something? This is a constructive piece of legislation to get machetes off the streets, and the time to act is now. Community safety should be a priority. It should be the number one priority of this government, but again this government does nothing but play politics.

Michaela Settle interjected.

The SPEAKER: The member for Eureka can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Member for Eureka withdrew from chamber.

Iwan WALTERS (Greenvale) (12:37): I rise to oppose the member for Berwick’s motion not because the issues that the motion addresses are insignificant or unserious but because the motion itself is fundamentally unserious and another stunt, as the member for Laverton said. The reason I oppose the motion is because the issues warrant more consideration than just a slanging match and gratuitous interjections from people like the member for South-West Coast and those on the opposition front bench in front of me, because the issues really matter: the home invasions that have been experienced in the member for Brighton’s electorate, which the member for Caulfield discussed, and the issues that the member for Laverton discussed. Residents in my community –

Roma Britnell: Frivolous.

Iwan WALTERS: They are not frivolous, member for South-West Coast. These issues are incredibly important. They warrant material consideration. They warrant material and real consideration, not this kind of pantomime performance initiated by the member for Berwick where there is just a slanging match around the issues, not about the issues themselves. The member for Hawthorn, the Leader of the Opposition, sits there interjecting. He has not contributed to the bill. I note he came into the house late, much like his party’s submission to the AEC process, but I do not wish to dwell –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! More members will be removed from the chamber.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a procedural debate, and the current member’s contribution is actually quite concerning.

The SPEAKER: Member for Greenvale, I ask you to come back to the motion before the house.

Iwan WALTERS: It is a narrow procedural debate, which emphasises why this kind of topic warrants more considered discussion, not through this kind of motion. As the member for Brighton said, every single person deserves to be safe in their home – I believe it was the quote; I will check Hansard. That is entirely right, which is why this government since 2014 has amended the Control of Weapons Act 1990 on so many occasions, because communities across Victoria, including in my electorate, deserve to be safe – unlike, as the member for Laverton said, those opposite, who closed police stations, including in the member for Brighton’s electorate; who cut police operational budgets by $100 million –

Sam Groth interjected.

The SPEAKER: The member for Nepean can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Member for Nepean withdrew from chamber.

Iwan WALTERS: who did not add a single additional police officer.

Brad Battin interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Berwick!

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a procedural debate, not an opportunity to talk about the Bracks government’s closure of the Brighton police station.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, there is no point of order. I ask that you allow the member to continue his contribution and that you remind the member for Brighton that points of order are not to be used frivolously in this house.

The SPEAKER: There are no points of order.

Iwan WALTERS: As I say, every single resident deserves to be safe in their home, which is why I am so grateful that the Minister for Police has been with me in my electorate speaking with residents and why the police at Broadmeadows police station and at Craigieburn police station are undertaking such important proactive community policing, because that is what matters in community. It is not stunts like this, which just enable an opportunity for insults to be hurled across the chamber; it is real hard yakka in communities, in police stations and through consultation like the Minister for Police is continually leading with stakeholders and with police and reform processes that have led to this government continuing to reform the Control of Weapons Act 1990 to ensure that the police have the powers and the tools they need to ensure that prohibited weapons are not on our streets, to ensure that families are safe in their home. That is enabled by serious, considered work by people like the Minister for Police, not by people like the opposition leader who just sit there interjecting or by motions like this which do not do anything to keep Victorians safe. The Labor Party is the party that is in government, and we are doing the work that matters.

Assembly divided on motion:

Ayes (27): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Roma Britnell, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Annabelle Cleeland, Chris Crewther, Wayne Farnham, Sam Groth, Matthew Guy, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Kim O’Keeffe, John Pesutto, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, David Southwick, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells, Nicole Werner, Jess Wilson

Noes (52): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Darren Cheeseman, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Chris Couzens, Jordan Crugnale, Lily D’Ambrosio, Daniela De Martino, Steve Dimopoulos, Paul Edbrooke, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Martha Haylett, Mathew Hilakari, Melissa Horne, Natalie Hutchins, Lauren Kathage, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, Gary Maas, Alison Marchant, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, Steve McGhie, Paul Mercurio, John Mullahy, Tim Pallas, Danny Pearson, Pauline Richards, Tim Richardson, Michaela Settle, Ros Spence, Nick Staikos, Natalie Suleyman, Meng Heang Tak, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson

Motion defeated.