Thursday, 2 April 2026

 Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (09:53): In Mildura and across Sunraysia in the Mallee, we are proud, resilient communities, but right now people are feeling increasingly uneasy for various reasons. I have spoken to small business owners who are dealing with repeat theft and damage, often absorbing the costs themselves because it is simply not worth reporting it anymore. I have heard from families who no longer feel comfortable letting their kids walk home from sport or school, and I have spoken to frontline workers – retail staff, police members, healthcare workers, volunteers – who are copping abuse as part of their everyday working lives. This is not abstract. It is not statistics; it is real, and it is happening every single day in our communities. At the same time, people in the regions feel like they are being overlooked and underestimated. When crime happens in Melbourne, it makes headlines. When it happens in Mildura, Robinvale, Beulah, small towns out in the Mallee, it is just another day.

Yesterday I asked the Premier about victims of crime and she said she is listening. Well, Premier, listening is not enough. Over this Easter break, I would encourage you to take time to watch the documentary produced by Big Chocky featuring the parents of Aidan Becker. It is a powerful piece of cinema and documentary. Because if you truly want to understand the impact of crime in this state – not just the statistics and the data and not just the briefings, but the human cost – then you need to hear directly from those living it. Only then might you begin to grasp how Victoria’s crime crisis is affecting – (Time expired)