Tuesday, 17 March 2026

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (12:55): Again I am back in here talking about crime and crime out in Clyde North. We have seen yet again – it was on the news last week – where families have had to run around and chase people with machetes in the street. I know the Minister for Health thinks it is a joke, but the reality is that families are being terrorised by machetes in Clyde North, in the Orana estate. When they are trying to call the police, their challenge is that they have got a brand new police station with no police officers. But what is even more scary – I am sure the member for Cranbourne will be interested in this – is now the government are looking at a way that they can cover this up and not put police in Clyde North but literally just move one van from Cranbourne across to Clyde North, reducing the response in Cranbourne. Now the government are going into a position they are willing to put the community of Cranbourne at risk to cover a problem that they have got in Clyde North, but if the police are needed in Cranbourne, they have to go back to Cranbourne and leave Clyde North without police again. It is starting to get a bit confusing. There is an answer, though. It is quite simple. If the government go through the process of ensuring they can get the people who are on the waiting list to become police officers here in Victoria, we can fill the seats in the vans and we can keep the communities safe. It is about time Jacinta Allan and the Labor government understand the impact of crime on each and every Victorian across this state.