Wednesday, 19 March 2025

 Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (09:56): The Premier says that locking up kids is going to stop crime, but the evidence tells us that laws that incarcerate people who have not even been convicted of a crime do nothing to improve community safety. Thirty-eight per cent of people in prison are still awaiting trial, and they are disproportionately First Nations women and children and people of colour. Meanwhile the Premier is turning her back on the root causes: insecure housing, family violence and access to health care. Addressing these systemic problems and early intervention is what improves community safety. But in December last year, while obsessing about rising crime, the Premier quietly scrapped the crime prevention portfolio along with 80 per cent of funding for key programs that stop youth offending. Last year the government was investing in 21 outreach and crime prevention programs. Now they are funding just one. Meanwhile they are demolishing public housing, tearing communities apart and failing completely to address drug and alcohol treatment. Currently there is not one single public rehab bed available here in Victoria. If the Premier was serious about addressing crime instead of funnelling money into jails, she would support the essential programs that keep people safe and supported in the first place.