Wednesday, 29 October 2025

 Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (14:36): My question is to the Attorney-General. Cat from Churchill was hospitalised when her car was rammed by three youths in a stolen vehicle in Morwell recently. The families whose car was stolen from Yarram and later involved in Cat’s accident say they feel violated. Does the Attorney-General accept that we have a youth crime crisis in regional Victoria?

 Sonya KILKENNY (Carrum – Attorney-General, Minister for Planning) (14:36): I thank the member for his question, and I want to express my sympathy and extend my thoughts to Catherine, his constituent, who was caught up in this terrible crime and terrible accident. As we have said, we are seeing some pretty violent, brazen crimes at the moment, and increasingly these crimes are being committed by children. There is no place for crime in this state. There is no place for hate in this state. Everyone has the right to live free from harm and free from hate, intimidation and discrimination. We are seeing events that are disturbing and quite horrific, and as I said, they are increasingly being committed by children. Unlike those opposite, we on this side are unified in our approach. The Premier, the Deputy Premier and the entire government are focused on preventing crime.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Attorney is required to be factual, and no-one with a straight face could say the Premier and the Deputy Premier are in line on crime.

The SPEAKER: I again remind the member for Brighton that a point of order is not an opportunity to make a statement to the house.

Sonya KILKENNY: I think the member for Brighton is just reflecting the division over on the other side. We on this side of the house are fully focused on preventing crime, keeping Victorians safe, listening to the voices of victims and ensuring there are consequences for those who break the law.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, the question specifically asked whether the Attorney accepted that we have a youth crime crisis in regional Victoria. We are halfway through the answer, and the Attorney has not directly dealt with that specific question.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, there is no point of order. If the Manager of Opposition Business was listening to the response by the Attorney-General, he would have noted that the Attorney-General directed her answer to the question raised by the member for Morwell at the beginning of her answer.

The SPEAKER: I remind members once again that I cannot tell the minister or the Attorney how to answer the question. I do believe she was being relevant, though.

Sonya KILKENNY: As I was saying, we on this side of the house are fully focused on driving down crime, crime prevention, ensuring we listen to the voices of victims, ensuring that we are keeping Victorians safe and making sure that there are consequences for those who do the wrong thing and break the law.

As the Premier said, yesterday we met with Mark and Tenille, two victims who were present in the gallery, and I want to thank them for generously giving up their time to talk to us so personally about their experiences – experiences involving children who had entered their home overnight, children who had evoked fear in their family – and we committed to them to continue to strengthen our laws, to make sure there are consequences for those who break the law. But at the same time –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, if I can direct you to Speaker Andrianopoulos’s ruling of 23 November 1999, though a minister may be relevant, the Speaker can direct the minister to actually answer the substance of the question. The minister has not addressed the actual substance of the question.

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

Sonya KILKENNY: As I was saying, it is important as a justice system that we deliver those consequences, particularly when we are seeing more children involved in violent crime. It is equally as important that we are driving down crime, that we are tackling the root causes of crime – delivering services, education, jobs and ensuring there is hope for some of these children and some of these communities. That is the work that we will continue to do.

 Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (14:41): While Cat was still in hospital receiving treatment, she was alerted to a public post on Instagram. One of the youths who just hours earlier allegedly hit her in the stolen car had posted and boasted about his exploits. He had been arrested and already released on bail. Why do Labor’s weak bail laws continue to fail Victorians?

 Sonya KILKENNY (Carrum – Attorney-General, Minister for Planning) (14:42): I thank the member for his supplementary question. First of all, the only way that this child has been charged with a post-and-boast law is because we brought in those laws just earlier this year. It is now a crime to post and boast in this state.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Attorney is required to be factual. There has been no charge for post and boast.

The SPEAKER: The Attorney, I assume, is being factual.

Sonya KILKENNY: I thank the member for also raising the matter of bail. As the member knows and the house knows, earlier this year we introduced two very significant tranches of bail reform – very significant reforms that are having a very meaningful impact. We know they are having an impact. We see it in the numbers – a 46 per cent increase in the number of children on remand.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Attorney is debating the question. This question was specifically around Labor’s catch-and-release bail policy.

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

Sonya KILKENNY: With a 100 per cent increase in the number of bail refusals by courts since we introduced our bail reform and a 100 per cent increase in the number of bail revocation applications, these bail reforms are making a difference.