Wednesday, 19 November 2025

 David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:14): My question is to the Premier. Jack’s law, which gives police the power to stop and scan for knives at random high-risk locations, has been successfully implemented in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and Tasmania. These laws are already saving lives, yet here in Victoria police are still restricted to searching for weapons in very limited circumstances. Premier, why won’t you implement Jack’s law?

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:14): I thank the member for Caulfield for his question and the opportunity to discuss and point out to him and the house the measures that we are taking, on the advice of Victoria Police, to get more of these dangerous weapons off our streets. Alongside the rise in brazen, violent offending that is causing such great concern in our community, increasingly we know how knives, machetes and dangerous weapons are being used in this criminal behaviour. That is why, in terms of the actions we are taking here in Victoria to keep our community safe, again, as I emphasise –

David Southwick: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, I would ask you to bring the Premier back to answering the question: why won’t the Premier introduce Jack’s law here in Victoria? Simple.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, in raising points of order members of the opposition continue to defy your very clear ruling that a point of order is not an opportunity to repeatedly ask the question. The Premier is being entirely relevant. She has been on her feet for just over 40 seconds, and I ask that you rule the point of order out of order.

James Newbury: Further to the point of order, Speaker, I think the entire chamber is now frustrated that the Premier is refusing to deal with the substance of questions, and that is what is happening here.

The SPEAKER: That is not a point of order. In terms of the point of order raised by the member for Caulfield, I ask him not to repeat the question in his points of order. The Premier will come back to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: As I was outlining to the house, based on the work that has been done with Victoria Police, Victoria Police already have the powers to stop and search without a warrant. Further to that, working with Victoria Police we are providing 800 handheld metal detectors to assist Victoria Police with their work to be able to detect these dangerous weapons with that sole purpose of getting them off the streets. And when you add this work to the work that has already been done with the ban on machetes, we have seen more than 20,000 of these dangerous weapons taken off the streets.

David Southwick: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, it is clear that the Premier does not know the difference between Jack’s law and what is happening in Victoria. I am happy to table the document that shows the difference between what is happening in Victoria and –

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: As I have said, we are working with Victoria Police on putting in place laws here in Victoria. They have stop-and-search powers. We are giving them wands to strengthen those powers. We have banned machetes to get these dangerous weapons off the streets. And we will continue to work with Victoria Police and support them in keeping our community safe.

 David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:17): Brett Beasley, whose son Jack was tragically killed in 2019 and whose advocacy led to Jack’s law, has publicly stated that you will not meet with him. He is in the gallery. Will the Premier commit to meeting with Brett Beasley today?

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:18): I thank the member for Caulfield for the opportunity to step through the actions I and my office have taken to reach out to Mr Beasley in acknowledging his powerful advocacy for keeping the community safe and honouring the memory of his son Jack, whose life was tragically taken, and I pass on my deepest sympathy. As a parent it is unthinkable to think about losing your child in that circumstance, and the way that Mr Beasley has taken that experience and is turning it into advocacy to keep communities safe is incredibly powerful. As I said yesterday when I was asked this question, I said publicly that I would welcome the opportunity to meet with Mr Beasley, and since then my office has made a number of attempts to contact Mr Beasley to make a time, and we are looking forward to that opportunity to thank him for the work that he has done. I am looking forward to Mr Beasley having the opportunity to respond to those messages.