Thursday, 2 April 2026

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (14:31): My question is to the Premier. The youngest accused killer charged over the machete murders of young boys Chol and Dau has bragged that he will not get an adult sentence despite the government’s laws. Premier, why do youth offenders believe there are no consequences for violent crime in this state?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Werribee is warned.

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:32): The murder of the two young boys in Cobblebank is a tragedy that lives with those families forever. That is why the people who have been charged thanks to the hard work of Victoria Police are going through a court system. They are going through a system where they will be going through a process because we have introduced adult time for violent crime. The advice from the Attorney-General is that this will be dealt with through the Supreme Court.

References to these tragic murders bring only pain and suffering to the families of the two young boys who lost their lives. It is through listening to the experiences of victims of crime like that that we have introduced adult time for violent crime. There are consequences for this violent behaviour, where being tried before the adult court means jail is more likely and sentences are longer. It is why, too, working on the advice of Victoria Police, we changed the law to give Victoria Police stronger stop-and-search powers to get dangerous, deadly weapons off the streets, coupled with acting on the advice of Victoria Police to bring about Australia’s first ban on machetes. Those efforts have seen tens of thousands of dangerous weapons being removed from our streets. There is more to be done, and we will continue to do it because families like those of those young boys deserve our focus, attention and changing the law to keep the community safe.

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): Yesterday the Premier gloated that her $13 million machete bin program was a success, yet less than two weeks ago three girls aged 13, 15 and 16 were arrested after a machete brawl outside a supermarket in Hamilton. Premier, why does machete crime continue to run rampant in this state?

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:34): We have banned machetes in this state. We were the first state in the nation to do so, and it was on the advice of Victoria Police that we got tens of thousands of these dangerous weapons off the streets. But let us be clear: there is more to do, which is why we have toughened bail and why we have introduced adult time for violent crime. It is also why you can, under our laws, go to jail for owning a machete. I want to thank Victoria Police for the work that they are doing, and I want to acknowledge the victims of crime, who have suffered too many crimes. That is why too we have the violence reduction unit that is working to change this behaviour ‍– this new pattern of behaviour – to prevent crime, working with young people in communities, in families and in schools to prevent crime before it happens.