Thursday, 11 September 2025

Community safety

Brad BATTIN (Berwick – Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): My question is to the Premier. This week the Premier has failed to answer the following questions on crime: why Victoria has become the retail crime capital of Australia; whether she agrees with senior police that penalties for violent youth are too weak; why her government cut funding to a successful youth diversion program with an 87 per cent success rate; and what the youth crime figure is, a figure she admitted to knowing but refused to give. Why won’t the Premier directly answer these questions?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs withdrew from chamber.

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:25): I absolutely reject the Leader of the Opposition’s question, because he is wrong. He is continuing to peddle mistruths and misinformation. Or we could refer him to Hansard. He may want to have a look at the Hansard for this week and see where I have answered all of these questions. In answering those questions, I have gone to how the actions that we have taken as a government have strengthened and toughened the bail laws, which is making a difference. The number of people on remand has gone up by 26 per cent. Victoria Police today have stronger knife search powers, and as a result of that work they are seizing thousands and thousands of dangerous weapons, getting those weapons off our streets. It is supported by the work of Australia’s first machete ban, which has not only seen these dangerous weapons being handed in; we have also seen them successfully removed from retail settings. We have passed legislation to provide Victoria Police with additional powers to crack down on criminal organisations. We are also working on further reforms and laws to strengthen police powers and to provide greater protection for retail workers and greater support for police, who are dealing with the number one law and order issue in our state, which is of course violence against women in the home. We are going to be bringing stronger support for Victoria Police in the issuing of family violence intervention orders into this place. The Leader of the Opposition likes to quote crime statistics, but you never hear him quoting them for the number one law and order issue in this state, which is violence against women and children in their home.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is absolutely misleading the house. It is quite disorderly. I ask you to ask her to desist from doing so.

The SPEAKER: That is not a point of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: The Attorney-General just reminded me of a couple of additional things we have done this year: bringing about electronic monitoring and of course bringing into the Parliament legislation on post-and-boast laws. We also have more laws that will be coming to the Parliament to give Victoria Police additional powers to deal with violent and extreme behaviour around protests, noting of course that Victoria Police just yesterday spoke to the additional powers that they have to designate areas around the state to deal with people who are intending to use the cloak of protest to engage in violent and extreme behaviour.

In answering the Leader of the Opposition’s question, I have outlined the answers to the questions I have given to him over the course of this week. And in answering this question, I also remind the Leader of the Opposition of some other things I have said this week, rejecting his reckless political pointscoring behaviour. When it comes to supporting the work of Victoria Police, we stand with Victoria Police and will continue to support the work they do.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: I ask the Deputy Premier, the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Nationals to cease having conversations across the table.

Brad BATTIN (Berwick – Leader of the Opposition) (14:29): Does the Premier accept there is a crime crisis in Victoria?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Member for Nepean! I can stare you down if you want.

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:29): I am going to quote something the Attorney-General said to the Leader of the Opposition on Tuesday: ‘Where have you been?’ Where have you been over the past year? Where have you been?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister for Consumer Affairs! The Premier will come to order.

Brad Battin: On a point of order, Speaker, in relation to relevance, I was speaking to the victims who are the victims of crime here in Victoria, those that have been stabbed, those that have had their hands cut off, those that have lost family members. There is a whole world of victims that the Premier is ignoring continuously when she fails to answer questions on the crime crisis here in Victoria.

The SPEAKER: That is not a point of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: I say that because either the Leader of the Opposition is wanting to continue to engage in the reckless political behaviour we have seen time and again this year from the Leader of the Opposition or he can choose to support the work of Victoria Police, like we have done. It is from listening to victims of crime and working with Victoria Police that we have brought to this Parliament a range of stronger legislative mechanisms that have given additional powers to Victoria Police.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition! Minister for Consumer Affairs, this is your last warning – and the member for Sunbury.

Sam Groth: On a point of order, Speaker, the question the Leader of the Opposition asked was very succinct and the Premier should not introduce matters extraneous to the question. I would put to you that she is completely avoiding the question put to her by the Leader of the Opposition, and I ask you to bring her back to the question.

Ben Carroll: On the point of order, Speaker, the Premier has been entirely relevant to the question. It is not the Premier’s fault that they keep lobbing Dorothy Dixers. That is their fault; they write the questions.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a standing order and a rule that to speak twice on a point of order you need to seek leave. On the point of order, I cannot tell the Premier how to answer the question. I do ask the Premier to come back to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: It is making those points and it is acknowledging, as I said earlier this year, that we know there is more to do. We are doing it. We are strengthening the powers of Victoria Police and will continue to support the work of Victoria Police.