Thursday, 19 March 2026

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (09:54): The story of Victoria’s crime crisis is a story of denial, delay and serious government failure. Year after year the Allan Labor government has denied Victoria’s crime crisis, victim shaming victims of crime as whinging, and, when we call it out, calling our warnings alarmist and irresponsible. Typical Labor – when the truth does not suit them, they bully and berate those who speak out. Remember when they claimed machetes were not a problem; when we moved to ban them four times, Labor voted it down every single time. Then, as an election looms and after years of denial, the Premier finally concedes there is a crime crisis. Their solution – $13 million machete bins funded by the taxpayer. How is that working out? Then there is bail – Labor weakened the laws and told Victorians ‘we’re all good.’ Meanwhile, youth crime has surged to record levels, with repeat offenders on bail driving the crisis. The truth is that under this Premier, Victoria now has a hundred less police officers than we are used to, with over 2000 vacancies in the force, with damning results: opening hours cut at more than 40 police stations, closing some stations for five days a week, having to choose between putting PSOs at train stations or shopping centres, all because of the shortfall of the government’s own making. In the wake of 22-year-old Aidan Becker being stabbed to death at Mernda station, this is not good enough. Victorians deserve a fresh start.