Wednesday, 29 October 2025

 James NEWBURY (Brighton) (14:14): My question is to the Premier. On Tuesday night Pat, a 76-year-old grandmother in Brighton East, and her daughter were confronted by two masked men armed with a knife, who broke into their home in the middle of the night. The Premier said that she will continue to listen to victims of crime. Well, Pat had a message for the Premier: do something and do it quick. Why isn’t the Premier listening to Pat and doing something to stop Victoria’s surge in crime?

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:15): In acknowledging the member for Brighton’s question, can I also acknowledge what would have been an incredibly traumatic and difficult experience for Pat and her daughter that was referred to in the question. I think we have also noted from some of the media reporting Pat’s incredible bravery in that situation, but that does not set aside the fact that it would have been a very traumatic experience for Pat and her family. It is from listening to the experience of victims of crime like Pat and like Tenille and Mark, who I met with alongside the member for Hawthorn yesterday afternoon, and other victims of crime that, in response to the question about acting, we have acted. We have, through strengthening the bail laws, which has seen an increase in the number of people on remand. It has also, as a consequence, led to the government needing to create extra capacity, particularly in our youth justice corrections facility, and open up additional beds at the Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre. Also in terms of acting, whether it is electronic monitoring for young offenders or the work that we have done to strengthen police powers, that is seeing more and more dangerous weapons off the streets. Something like 20,000 dangerous weapons have been taken off the streets.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, Pat’s message was that the Premier needs to do something now because what the Premier may have done has not worked. I would ask the Premier to come back to that question.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: In terms of the work that Victoria Police is doing to get more of these dangerous weapons off the street, that has been supported by the actions that we have taken to expand Victoria Police’s stop-and-search powers. In combination with the ban on machetes, more than 20,000 of these dangerous weapons have been seized by Victoria Police.

In terms of the further work that is being undertaken, I want to acknowledge the work that the chief commissioner has been undertaking. It was two weeks ago that the chief commissioner outlined his new-look Victoria Police, the transformational work he is leading through Victoria Police. He has acknowledged that to drive down the offending rate that is causing concern in the community Victoria Police need to change the way that they police and get more police out on the streets to both respond to crime and also prevent crime.

Also I do acknowledge that we need to continue to work in this area, because it is not just causing concern for victims of crime like Pat, Tenille, Mark and others. We do need to recognise that this brazen, violent offending is not just causing concern, it is causing harm. We need to address these matters in terms of looking at both the consequences for this sort of behaviour and the root causes of this behaviour to address more and more young people getting away from this behaviour.

 James NEWBURY (Brighton) (14:18): Police have confirmed that no arrests have been made following the Brighton East incident. It is just one of the thousands of offences in Bayside that remain unsolved, which are up from 2683 to 3467 in just one year, a 29 per cent increase. Why are so many crimes in Melbourne’s suburbs going unsolved under this Premier’s watch?

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:19): I remind the Shadow Attorney-General that it is not the role of any politician to reach into an investigation into a criminal matter that is being undertaken by Victoria Police. This should not even be a question that is contemplated, particularly by someone who is the Shadow Attorney-General. He would do well to be counselled by the former Shadow Attorney-General on these matters.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, the Premier should not be reflecting on the fact that police are swamped. She should be dealing with the question that was put to her. That was the question: police are swamped, and they cannot deal with it.

The SPEAKER: That is not a point of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: It was a pretty poor attempt by the Shadow Attorney-General to try and reframe his question through that point of order. The chief commissioner has said this very clearly in terms of the resources that they have. He has acknowledged through the transformational work he is leading that they do need to drive down offence rates. They do need to change. Victoria Police are changing the way they police, and we will continue to support the work of Victoria Police, not undermine it like those opposite continue to repeatedly do.