Tuesday, 20 February 2024

Bail Amendment (Indictable Offences Whilst on Bail) Bill 2024

Introduction

Michael O’BRIEN (Malvern) (12:08): I move:

That I introduce a bill for an act to amend the Bail Amendment Act 2023 so that the offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail is not repealed, or to amend the Bail Act 1977 to re-enact that offence if it is repealed, and to make consequential amendments to other acts and for other purposes.

This is a very important bill that I seek to introduce today. In 34 days time the Bail Amendment Act ‍2023 will be proclaimed and take effect. That means that in 34 days time the Allan Labor government will be weakening Victoria’s bail laws. This could not happen at a worse possible time for Victoria’s community safety. The idea that we should be making it easier for repeat offenders to get bail again is something which Victorians do not support, yet that is exactly what the Bail Amendment Act of last year is going to do. This bill is giving the government an opportunity to save Victorians from themselves. This bill is giving the government an opportunity to save the government from itself. This was a bad change, one that was not done with the interests of community safety in mind. This is why this bill needs to be introduced and debated and passed today.

We are seeing a very serious issue with crime in our community. It has recently been reported there were 24,881 recorded home burglaries last year – that is over 68 burglaries a day. There is not a single member of this chamber whose community is not affected by burglaries and, increasingly, aggravated burglaries. I have had so many people that I know, so many constituents of mine, who have told me about the absolute terror of waking up to somebody being in their home in the middle of the night, often armed people in their homes in the middle of the night. These people are a danger to good, honest people in our community, and that is why we need to have appropriate bail laws.

There were aspects of the government’s bail changes last year that we did agree with, but this is one aspect that the government got wrong. The government absolutely got it wrong, and this bill is an opportunity to fix that mistake. The bill that I seek to introduce reflects a simple principle: if you abuse the privilege of bail by committing further offences, you should face a tougher test to get bail again. That is the simple principle that this bill represents. It would be very hard to find many Victorians who would disagree with that basic premise.

We all agree that bail is appropriate in certain circumstances, but bail is giving somebody trust, and the covenant on the other side of that bail is that you will keep your nose clean, you will not offend while you are on bail. So in an instance where somebody is given bail and then is charged with a serious offence, which is what an indictable offence is – a serious offence – they have breached the trust the community and the legal system have placed in them, and for that reason we believe they should face a higher test to get bail again. That is not only common sense, that is about community safety. But what the Labor government’s act, which is yet to be proclaimed, does is it says it does not matter how many times you are on bail, it does not matter how many times you are arrested on bail, you will continue to face the same level of test for each offence regardless of all the breaches you have committed in the past, and I do not believe that is right. I believe that if you breach the trust of the community by abusing the privilege of bail by committing another offence, you should face a tougher test to get bail again. When we have seen a 33 per cent increase in aggravated burglaries in this state over the past 12 months –

Brad Rowswell: How much?

Michael O’BRIEN: a 33 per cent increase in aggravated burglaries, member for Sandringham – this is exactly the wrong time to be weakening bail laws. It is exactly the wrong time to be weakening bail laws. When we see 43 police stations across this state reducing their opening hours to the public, we have got weakening bail laws, closed police stations and an increase in aggravated burglaries. It is a perfect storm designed to make Victorians less safe. Well, this government has a chance to admit that it got it wrong. This government has a chance to fix this mistake before Victorians pay the price for it. In 34 days time, on 25 March, the Bail Amendment Bill 2023 will be proclaimed by default. There is therefore one opportunity for this Parliament, one opportunity for this government to admit it got it wrong and put Victorians’ safety first. That is why it is so important that this bill be introduced, that this bill be debated and that this bill be passed. We stand for the very simple proposition: if you abuse the privilege of bail by committing a further offence, you should face a tougher test to get bail again. We stand for Victorians and Victorians’ safety. The question is: will the government do the same?

Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (12:14): I rise in opposition to the opposition’s motion. In Dunkley we were blessed to have the leader of the federal opposition down, apparently dining in Melbourne, dining in Dunkley – a person that said he could not go outside and dine. And we have seen the hysteria whipped up around African gangs, which was absolutely toxic in my community.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: If the member for Bulleen wants to stay in the chamber for the debate, I would suggest he cease interjecting.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a procedural debate about introducing an important bill. There were five home invasions in my electorate last night. I would ask you –

The SPEAKER: Order! The Manager of Opposition Business knows how to introduce a point of order, and that is not the correct way. Member for Frankston, this is a narrow procedural debate, and I ask you to speak to the introduction of the bill.

Paul EDBROOKE: Thank you, Speaker, and thank you, Captain Obvious. The Andrews Labor government is committed to keeping Victorians safe, and Victorians can see that. If you go to the police academy now, you will see that 3135 police officers have been trained there, as well as PSOs. They have had to put portable buildings on the athletics oval – this is the first time in history that has happened – to make sure there are lodgings and classrooms for that many police coming through. The Andrews Labor government has also invested more than $4.7 billion of new funding into the Victorian corrections system –

Members interjecting.

Paul EDBROOKE: which I think is lost on those opposite. They get confused pretty quickly. You can say ‘Andrews’ and it becomes a big deal. They know what I mean. That $4.7 billion includes $2 billion for better services and around $2.8 billion to build and upgrade correctional facilities, which we have seen recently.

On both sides of the chamber we will have debate and argument about certain things. We agreed on certain legislation quite recently in regard to a serial killer in Victoria, and I think we are on the same ticket there. The argument around this, though, is not really taking into account some of the investment that has gone in from the Allan government; for example, the $243 million which was spent expanding services and capacity across the prison system. We are investing too in those programs that keep people out of prison, especially young people, and reduce crime. It was great to have the Minister for Crime Prevention, Mr Carbines, in Frankston not long ago, at Headspace, to talk about some of those programs that are in many members’ electorates that help put people on the right path.

There is always going to be debate around the balance of bail and the tests therein, and I do respect that, but on this occasion I have to say that I am definitely standing up in opposition to what has been put up to the house today by the opposition. It is in some ways, I think, naive of the facts and naive of the data that we see from the investment by this government. I think the resources that have gone to our police force and the resources that are going to our legal system really have been seen only maybe once before, if that. We have invested more than any other government from what I can see. I think that that needs to be taken into account in this debate, and I do not think it has been.

With that, I will put on the record that I am not in support of this opposition motion. I think they need to go back and do some more homework. They need to maybe get some briefings and come back with a better conversation to be had in this chamber.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:18): I strongly support the member for Malvern’s attempt to introduce the Bail Amendment (Indictable Offences Whilst on Bail) Bill 2024, and I support the urgency that it needs to be introduced with. I advise the house that last night in my community there were five home invasions. When we speak about the need for this bill, there can be no greater proof of a need than the incidents that occurred last night. The member for Malvern spoke about the 34 days until the weakening of bail laws comes into effect. We absolutely need to introduce and consider this bill immediately, because I have five families in my community that expect it – families with children who go to one of my local primary schools, who this morning woke up to having had their homes invaded. When does it stop?

We need to ensure that there are punishments at law that act as a deterrent to stop these crimes. We need to ensure that the laws are strong, not watered down but strong, and that is what the member for Malvern’s bill is about. It is about ensuring that we have protections in place and ensuring that when you commit a crime more than once you are punished as you should be, not that it is easier for you to do it again. To know that 68 incidents are occurring a day is a problem, and that is what this bill seeks to address.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, the Manager of Opposition Business knows full well that this is a procedural motion. It is not an opportunity to debate the merits of the bill, and I ask you to bring him back to speaking only about the introduction of the bill, not what the bill may contain.

The SPEAKER: I do not uphold the point of order.

James NEWBURY: I say again: there can be no more urgent reason to introduce this bill than to ensure that families like those in my community who were attacked last night are protected. Could there be any greater reason? I am a father of young children, and to talk to other parents who have woken up in the morning and found they have been victim to a home invasion just absolutely rocks you. It hurts to hear the stories of what they have gone through.

And it is not just something that happened last night. As we heard from the member for Malvern, this is something that is now happening 68 times a day – 68 times every single day – on average. I have, in my community, heard of so many incidents where this has occurred. Only recently in Bay Street a family woke up, walked out to have their Weeties and were confronted by two armed home invaders with machetes. Can you imagine? That is why I so strongly support the member for Malvern’s attempt to say that we cannot allow the laws to be watered down in 34 days. No-one in good conscience would allow the laws to be watered down in 34 days, and that is what this bill goes to. We must consider it immediately. We must consider it urgently.

We must ensure that our laws protect our community, and when we know that there are failings, when we know that there have been mistakes, that we stop them from happening. In my community our local police station is now closed for part of the day. It is just one of the 43. Forty-three stations are shut for many, many hours a day. I do not have a station in my community. The nearest one is now shut for a third of the day; the 24-hour station is now shut for a third of the day. Work that one out.

But the member for Malvern must be supported in his attempt to introduce this bill. We cannot allow repeat offenders to not have a deterrent to stop them from committing these horrific crimes. How can we as a Parliament look the five families in my community in the eyes and say what they went through last night was okay? It is not okay, and this government needs to stop sitting idly by while 68 of these invasions are happening every single day.

Jackson TAYLOR (Bayswater) (12:23): From the outset I just want to say – and I am not attributing this to any particular speaker to this point – that in this place, when we are talking about issues of community safety around victims of crime and around crime in general, it is very important to avoid politicisation and to be very careful about how we present statistics. In the past I have seen politicians take a piece of data and then put it out to their community in grandiose terms. I am just broadly saying that it is very important that we all take a deep breath and remember that when we talk about these issues these are not just numbers, these are people. I would urge people to be cautious in their debate around these matters.

I speak from experience. These are very, very important topics to our community, and that is exactly why the Allan Labor government, and previously the Andrews Labor government, have been strong supporters of our men and women and people in blue on the front line keeping Victorians, our community, safe each and every single day. I was very proud to have been a serving police officer before being elected to this place. I served at the rank of senior constable. I was on the front line. I know what it is like to be out there day in and day out keeping our community safe, and I know since transitioning into this place I am extremely proud to be a part of a team that backs in those very same people. This government has put on over 3000 more police – not just on the front line but family violence detectives in permanent jobs, because we know family violence is something that we need to get rid of. It is a scourge on our community, and that is why this government have put in dedicated family violence detective positions. It is why we have put in resources for family violence specialist courts.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, apart from being a procedural debate, this bill relates to bail and the urgency around introducing a bail law. It is not an opportunity to read out a media release, and I would ask you to bring the member back to the motion before us.

The SPEAKER: Manager of Opposition Business, I will not call you for points of order if you cannot make them correctly. I ask you to be succinct. Member for Bayswater, I have allowed some latitude here for members who have spoken on this, and I will not uphold the point of order.

Jackson TAYLOR: Thank you, Speaker. Talking about the importance of resourcing our police and resourcing our courts around family violence goes to the very heart of community safety, because it is what our police officers are responding to day in and day out. I have been a victim of family violence myself growing up, I have been in the police force and now I am here seeing that this government stands behind the victims of family violence and backs in our police to do their job every day, not just with the resources but also with the tech and the equipment, like body-worn cameras, making it easier for victims of family violence to give their statements. We are making it easier for police to do their job with iPads, telephone devices, everything that they need. All the powers and resources that the police force have needed, this government has responded to and provided to them.

Of course the member for Frankston before discussed the academy. I know since my time at the academy to what this government is doing now there has been an exponential increase. There is family violence specialist training. They have got portables on the course as well, getting through double squads of police officers. It is an incredible commitment that this government has made. We also have the guaranteed funding model for police. We are upgrading our police stations.

What I will say is that we have spoken about community safety and this government’s absolute resolute commitment to community safety and to Victoria Police, but this government does not just provide the resources. We also talk the talk, because when talking the talk and walking the walk sometimes what you say is equally as important. I remember during the pandemic when our police were going through very, very difficult times and they were performing a job under very trying circumstances, this government had their back. I am not saying all in different political parties did not have their back, but some did not. They were very quick to criticise without any facts and jump to conclusions. Members on this side were not on that pile-on. We will always support our police. We supported them then, we support them now and we always will. This government will always resource Victoria Police to get the job done, to keep our community safe, because it is the right thing to do. We will continue to do it.

Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (12:28): I rise to support the member for Malvern’s Bail Amendment (Indictable Offences Whilst on Bail) Bill 2024. You could never get a bigger reason for why we need to support this to ensure that we can protect the community than what the member for Bayswater just said – we want to focus on family violence. If you commit family violence at home, you will end up on bail. If you reoffend, which quite often happens in family violence, you will go back into the court system, and it will be easier after this law goes through from this government to get bail than it is today. We want to make sure that the offenders in those circumstances of family violence cannot get bail easier than they can currently. We need to protect those victims, so when it comes to bail and this Bail Act 1977 we want to make sure that the people who are applying for bail are treated as they should be if they have committed an indictable offence. We do not want them back on the street.

We have spoken about some of the crimes that have happened. We heard about that in here and about the police and the resourcing, and the one thing the government forgets to mention every time they talk about police resourcing is that there are 3 per cent less police available today than there were just 12 months ago. There are 5 per cent less police available today than there were two years ago. There are nearly 1000 vacancies. They are funded vacancies, so the government can say that they are increasing the numbers, but they are not actually putting people into those spots. We have got vacancies. It does not matter where you go in the state, that is a big problem. We have vacancies in nearly every station across Victoria; that is a massive concern. But we want to actually make sure that we are talking about the things that are important and can make a difference, so when the police do their job and arrest someone, they are not going to end up back out on the street, just like that, for the police to go and rearrest, because of the bail laws making it easier for people to get out.

The member for Malvern has spoken about stations that are closed and crimes that are happening. The member for Brighton spoke about five incidents in his electorate – just his electorate – last night. I could show every person in this room today a video from last night in Alira estate, in Berwick, of another time when offenders went into a house and they did not care who was home. They pulled up to that house two nights in a row – it is all on video – and they have gone in through the back door. They did not care who was there. And I will bet my bottom dollar that these kids who are doing this, these thugs, are on bail. I will bet my bottom dollar they are on bail. We are seeing continuous reports; we do not have to go back. We have recently seen a tragedy where someone was killed by people who were on bail.

When is the government going to listen and understand that if you keep making it easier for people to get bail, the consequence is that our community is less safe? At the end of the day the focus of this place must be on community safety. That is why this bill is not just important to introduce, it is important to get through in a time line that ensures that that sunset clause does not happen. The member for Malvern understands it and has seen it in his own electorate. The member for Brighton understands it and has seen it in his own electorate. And I will tell you I understand it because I have those people come in to my office – I speak to those victims – and every time they say they were burgled or they had someone break into their house with a machete but that person was on bail it nearly makes people sick. When I go and speak to Victoria Police, those on the ground who are out there doing their jobs, the most frustrating time for them is when they go through a revolving system in the courts. They see offenders come in, and half the time the offenders will beat them back to the residence they came from because they get bail so quickly these days. We now need to make sure that the bail system in place has a priority, and that priority is community safety.

I am going to circle back to where I started and why this has to come in. We talk about being safe out in the street. We talk about being safe in our community. I say we need to be safe in our homes. During my time in Victoria Police we charged many people with violence in their homes, and there is not a person in this place that does not think that should happen. We want to make sure that we protect the victims who are at home, who are the most vulnerable and who do not have the opportunity to protect themselves. To do that, we need to support the member from Malvern’s bill to ensure that those offenders who are inside the home, who we do not normally get to, do not get the opportunity to come back out and assault, intimidate or threaten any person in their own home. We need to make sure those protections are there, and the only way to do that and ensure people are safe in their houses is to support the member for Malvern’s bill.

Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (12:33): I rise to speak on this motion and to speak against the member for Malvern’s motion. As a new member of Parliament, one thing has become very clear to me very early in my term, and that is that one of the highest priorities of the Allan Labor government is indeed community safety. I know that because I see it every single day – day in, day out, week in, week out ‍– in my community of Tarneit. The facts speak for themselves: $4.7 billion invested into this sector in Victoria since we took government. That funding is obviously split up in different ways – it has been said previously to me – whether that be more police on the beat now than ever before, whether that be an academy out at Glen Waverley full of young prospective police officers that are about to go out and keep our community safe, or indeed whether that be through our record investment in corrections right here in Victoria.

We are investing like no government ever has before in correctional facilities right here in Victoria, indeed a lot very close to my community of Tarneit. We can go out there and we can use the real-life example of Cherry Creek. $2.8 billion has been invested just into corrections infrastructure itself. As we know, new corrections infrastructure will help improve safety and security within our community. We have also invested $243 million to expand services and capacity right across the prison system. I know – I am sure all of our MPs know – that when constituents come through our offices that is so incredibly important to them.

As I said, the proof is in the pudding in terms of the Allan Labor government’s investment in corrections in Victoria and indeed its investment in community safety. We do not just talk the talk, we walk the walk. And unlike those opposite, this is not a political football to us. Politicisation of community safety is abhorrent; it is something that we are absolutely not interested in. Let us look at the history of this. We can wind all the way back to the Liberals’ federal colleague, now the Leader of the Opposition of this country, talking –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! I would ask members to cease interjecting while the member for Tarneit is on his feet. The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order.

James Newbury: Relevance.

The SPEAKER: Well done, Manager of Opposition Business. I think the member for Tarneit was giving some context, and I do not uphold the point of order.

Dylan WIGHT: Indeed I was, Speaker, and thank you very much. Those of us on this side of the house will not turn this into a political football. We will not politicise community safety here in Victoria. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, we can go back several years to the now leader of the federal Liberal Party talking about community safety and talking about being scared to go out for dinner in Victoria because of African gangs. It was one of the more abhorrent displays by a potential leader.

The SPEAKER: Order! On a point of order, Manager of Opposition Business.

James Newbury: Clearly relevance.

The SPEAKER: Member for Tarneit, you have 26 seconds to come back to the introduction of the bill.

Dylan WIGHT: As I said at the beginning of my contribution, I will be opposing this motion because frankly what it does is politicise community safety in Victoria, which those on this side of the house are not interested in and never will be.

The SPEAKER: The member for Brunswick, by leave. Is leave granted?

Leave refused.

Assembly divided on motion:

Ayes (26): 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, Nicole Werner, Jess Wilson

Noes (53): 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, Steve Dimopoulos, Paul Edbrooke, Will Fowles, 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, Jackson Taylor, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson

Motion defeated.