Tuesday, 20 May 2025

Aggravated crime legislation

Jess WILSON (Kew) (19:15): (1155) My adjournment is to the Premier, and the action I am seeking is for the Allan Labor government to put community safety first and immediately classify machetes as prohibited weapons. Victoria is in the grip of a worsening crime crisis, and Labor’s weak laws are to blame. The facts do not lie: since the Premier took office in 2023, crime has increased 19 per cent. Crime across Victoria has soared by 16 per cent in the last 12 months. Over the past decade aggravated burglaries have increased 169 per cent in Victoria, and youth crime has climbed to the highest level since the electronic records began in 1993. In my electorate of Kew crime increased 16.5 per cent in the last year, higher than the state average. Retail theft is up 30 per cent, motor vehicle theft is up 37 per cent and aggravated burglary or home invasions are up 32 per cent.

While these statistics paint a frightening picture, it is the personal stories of victims that really demonstrate the gravity of the crime crisis in this state. Last week five balaclava-hooded offenders wielding machetes kicked down the front door of a home in Kew, with three of them entering the home. I am sure you are picturing this occurring in the dead of night under the cover darkness, but no, these brazen offenders kicked down the door and entered the home in the middle of the day in full view of the street. 19-year-old Charlie was home alone upstairs when he heard a loud thud downstairs. Walking to the stairs to investigate, he found one of the offenders coming up the stairs holding a machete. Bravely, Charlie yelled at him, but the offender taunted back, swinging the machete. Thank God the offenders fled, and our dedicated Boroondara police responded quickly.

This never should have happened. While Charlie is physically okay, the trauma of this home invasion will have a lasting impact. As Charlie’s dad said to me, imagine if it had been his daughter or his wife home alone. Instead, the police tell us that these violent crimes are all too common, because nothing is done to stop the offenders given the current revolving door when it comes to Victoria’s weak bail laws. This Labor government under the Premier’s watch is failing in its most sacred duty – to keep Victorians safe. In the words of Charlie’s dad Andrew:

Kerri and I lay the blame of this disgusting attack on our family squarely with the failings of the Allan Labour Government, which has allowed criminal youths to mock us and believe there are no consequences for their crimes. The government is failing its citizens own safety in their own homes.

Labor was dragged to the table to finally adopt the Victorian Liberals’ and Nationals’ plan to ban machetes, yet the Allan Labor government has delayed their classification of machetes as prohibited weapons until September this year, meaning offenders wielding machetes today, including last week in Charlie’s home, do not face the full consequences of the law. Premier, how have you let it come to this? You must make machetes a prohibited weapon now.