Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (16:01): There is a crime crisis in Victoria. It is about time we put victims first and deliver prevention that works. Today I rise to address this issue that has been raised with me by many families throughout my community and from communities across the state which have this ongoing crime crisis that is sending profound fear and impacting so many Victorians. Over recent months I have had families, workers, unions and entire neighbourhoods who have come forward who have endured violent crimes. These are not just statistics. They are the real lives of people that are changed forever. We have a failing system that continues to give bail to violent offenders here in our state, a system that is so backed up, our justice system, that, as they say, justice delayed is justice denied. In Victoria it is delayed for, if not months, years. Young offenders still see the system today as a revolving door, with very limited penalties or outcomes for the crimes they commit. Over that time, knowing they can get away with it, they continue to get worse.

Over the years we have seen levels of crime and statistics that grow at rates that we actually did not think were possible. Let us just go through the cycle of how we have ended up here. What has happened to get to the stage where we have an actual crime crisis here in Victoria? The Labor government in 2023 weakened the bail laws. The Labor government introduced the ‘toughest bail laws in Australia’ only to find out the title did not match the content of the bill. There are over 1400 ‍vacancies on the police rosters across Victoria. There are 367 less police today than there were the day that Premier Allan was elected by her own party to lead the Victorian government. Labor has closed or reduced hours on 41 police stations across Victoria due to the chronic shortages of police. Labor spent $30 million to build a new police station in Clyde North, a police station that is not open to the public and has no police to respond to emergencies or keep the community safe. Labor closed Malmsbury after spending tens of millions of dollars on upgrades. Labor is spending tens of millions of dollars to reopen Malmsbury – well, partly open it, not fully reopen it. Labor has spent tens of millions of dollars on new beds in the adult system that cannot be used due to building defects. Labor has spent over $30 million a year on operational costs for Western Plains prison for two years, without having a single prisoner. Labor cut crime prevention in Victoria funding in Victoria, leading to cuts in programs. Labor have failed to address the graffiti crisis that every Victorian sees on freeways, railway lines and abandoned buildings. Everywhere across the state we are seeing far too much of that graffiti. Labor spent $13 million on a failed machete bin program. Everyone knows that the young offenders did not hand in their machetes. It was only the good, honest farmers who did not use them anymore. Labor for years failed to admit that we have a crime crisis, and a failure to acknowledge this has led to a failure to fix it. Premier Allan and Labor’s failures have led to all Victorians not just feeling less safe but actually being less safe.

As I said before, the victims are not statistics, they are real cases. We do not have to go back too far to see where these cases go. The government are keen on telling us now that they have done enough, and they are on their way to lowering the crime stats. Late last night a teenager was slashed and struck by a stolen car. A 17-year-old was slashed in the face and deliberately struck by a stolen Mazda in a McDonald’s car park in Beaconsfield Parade. Two offenders are still on the run for this incident. At a South Yarra nightclub there was a ram raid and arson, just last night. This is just last night in Melbourne – another arson attack, another ram raid in the once safe place of South Yarra. This kind of crime is happening far too often in these areas. These arson attacks are putting many at risk. Many of these are happening in strip shops. We know that many of these strip shops have people living above them and in other locations people living around them, and we already know the outcomes can be tragic.

There is this one, which is a prime example of how good the bail system here is in Victoria. An armed robbery was committed by an offender on bail. This was a young offender who has the worst nickname, I think, for committing an offence whilst on bail. He is known as the Bayside bandit. The Bayside bandit has pleaded guilty to attempting an armed robbery while claiming to have a gun. You may remember this person; this is the one who, when he got bail, got permission to go to Europe on a holiday. Now, I know that sends some really good incentives to continue to commit crime – you get a free trip. I thought maybe, just maybe, this young offender thought each time he commits a crime with an armed robbery he might get a business class trip to go over to Europe – to go to London and have a look around at the tourist hotspots – because that is what is happening in Victoria. That is on top of another offender who got permission to go to the Gold Coast to go up and have entertainment at Movie World. The problem is it is not a joke, because he went out and committed another armed robbery.

Car thefts, carjackings – do you know a car is stolen in Victoria every 16 minutes? And it is not just an inconvenience when your car gets stolen; it can be life changing. Many of these are stolen from people’s homes. It is an invasion of their privacy. We have seen a circumstance where a car was stolen with twins in the back of the car. We all know that those that are stealing the cars are not upstanding people of the community. They did drop off the kids. They were uninjured, which is fantastic – unharmed. But they dropped off the twins nearly a kilometre apart because they did not care, and they know in Victoria that they can get away with it. That in itself is why these crimes continue to increase.

Dau and Chol: these are names that no person in this place should ever forget. Two boys, aged 12 and 15, walking home from the game they loved – basketball – were attacked and killed for no reason. Eight have been charged for this horrific crime. But I have to ask the question: how in Victoria have we got to the stage where we have people who are hunting for their victims, where we have gangs of young men who are going around and thinking it is okay to hunt humans for prey as victims of crime? They killed them. They did not rob them, they killed them. That should send shock waves through every single person in this state. These are the violent, tragic events that are happening here in our state, and the government for too long has ignored them.

We know that there is a link between the repeat offending and the fact that these young offenders continually either get bail or get very limited sentences and have zero support or prevention programs here in the state. There has to be a better way. People have heard me in this place: you cannot arrest your way out of the crime crisis we have in this state. Yes, we have to have consequences. I note the Premier has obviously had polling done recently that ‘consequences’ is a big word that must be used when they are talking about young offenders. The problem is, it should have been used by the Premier a couple of years ago so we did not end up where we are today. Saying we have got consequences and delivering them are two totally different things.

I can travel around the state and the country and find programs – the Maranguka justice reinvestment program in New South Wales, BackTrack in New South Wales, Youth Off the Streets in New South Wales, Police and Citizens Youth Club, Queensland youth development programs, Target 120 in Western Australia – that you do not even have to travel too far for. You can look them up and see that these programs are taking young people out of the justice system and they are not going back into it. They are going back and learning the skills they need to re-engage in the education system, go out and get a job or get the further services and support they need. These are programs that involve the families and bring the families in to ensure that the young people have a stable environment, because if we can change those things, we change the course of their lives and the community is safer. It is as simple as that.

There are so many things that this government has failed to do. But if they do not want to go and look interstate – like we have seen in the past, they like to invent their own things – well, they can look here in Victoria. The YouthYOU program is run down in Hallam. It is a program designed to work on the causation of crime, not the actual offending. This program works on drug addiction, building self-esteem and developing life skills. The program also focuses on healthy lifestyles, which make a big difference in many of these kids’ lives. It would be great if we could get even some of the media to come out and have a look at this. They can do a workout with Glenn and me and a few of the participants, who have a gym program there to engage the next generation and to give them a pathway out of crime and away from drugs. I would love to see Santo from Channel 9 come out and go on the bench press, Heidi on the treadmill, Jess from Channel 10 do a few chin-ups or Shannon come out and do some leg curls, because if they come out there and highlight the fact that we have these programs here in Victoria that do not get government funding, that are changing the lives of young people, we will see that there are solutions available right here, right now to ensure that we can change the course of the next generation and reduce crime here in Victoria.

Whilst I say they are not statistics, the reality is: here are some statistics, and these are ones that it is really important everyone knows. I want to be fair. The Premier only came in September 2023, so I will only refer to figures since September 2023, so the Premier can take full responsibility as the leader of this state. All incidents overall with crime have gone up 29 per cent under Premier Allan’s watch. Aggravated burglaries have gone up 45 per cent under the Premier’s watch. Robberies have gone up 22 per cent under the Premier’s watch. Total serious assaults have gone up 26 per cent under the Premier’s watch. Car theft is up 72 per cent under the Premier’s watch. Theft from motor vehicles is up 60 per cent under Premier Allan’s watch. Theft from a retail store is up 59 per cent under the Premier’s watch. Let us put that one into perspective: the unions are calling for more action, the government have failed to deliver it and taken too long and more young people who are working in places like Coles and Myer and retail stores for their first job are becoming victims of crime in this state than ever before, under the person who says she stands by every union in Victoria. The Premier has failed that union and the Premier has failed those workers, and they are increasingly becoming the victims who are speaking up each and every day against this government. Carjackings are up 68 per cent here in Victoria. Attempted carjackings are up 83 per cent.

The government love to say that we do not talk about family violence. Well, I am happy to. Family violence since this Premier has been the Premier has gone up 13 per cent. That is 12,147 extra incidents here in this state. Serious assaults are up 47 per cent when it comes to family violence. Stalking is up 23 per cent. If you have not read the media, this is in the Herald Sun today:

The mother of murdered woman Celeste Manno has slammed the Allan government for dragging its feet on critical reforms to the state’s stalking laws.

It comes amid a surge in the crime to a 10-year high, with latest statistics showing 14,779 stalking-related offences recorded in the year to September 2025, the highest since 2016.

…

Following her killing, the Victoria Law Reform Commission probed gaps in stalking legislation, tabling a final report in September 2022. It included 45 recommendations, of which 34 called on the Victorian government to take direct action.

Laws set to be debated in parliament this week would address just three of the recommendations, including clarifying the definition of stalking and giving courts tougher powers to clamp down on stalkers.

This quote is from Celeste Manno’s mum:

It’s not good enough, they’re doing absolutely nothing … it’s disgusting …

Could I also please say that in the upper house Renee Heath, a member out in the eastern region, is doing so much in relation to stalking here in Victoria and making sure that people like Celeste Manno’s voices are being heard, because we need to see change.

That is all part of this crime crisis here in our state. Youth crime – a 27 per cent increase under the Premier and 10 per cent in 10- to 14-year-olds. Considering they have increased the age of responsibility, that is half the amount of people to commit extra crimes. That is just not good enough. Crime in Victoria, as we know, is out of control. As I have said, each and every one of these people are victims. It is time to take their heads out of the sand, focus on the programs that we can genuinely make change with, reinstate the funding for crime prevention, put the money back into the programs so we can deliver programs in Victoria, have serious consequences for serious offenders, stop giving bail to violent and repeat offenders here in our state and give the police the resources they need. Do all of this, and I will give you a guarantee we will see these crime stats go down, and that is to the benefit of each and every Victorian.