Thursday, 18 June 2026

 Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Leader of the House, Minister for Police, Minister for Community Safety, Minister for Victims, Minister for Racing) (14:09): Every Victorian has the right to be safe and to feel safe. Crime is down in Victoria – a drop of nearly 3 per cent in the criminal incident rate and 6 per cent for youth offending. Those opposite do not want to hear the news that aggravated burglary is down 22 per cent here in Victoria. Robbery is down 15 per cent in Victoria. Sexual offences, family violence, theft and property offences are all down. Our government has delivered the toughest bail laws in the country, and they are working. Bail revocations – we have seen them up nearly 50 per cent, and we have seen bail refusals up more than 63 per cent. That means more people going to jail and less getting bail than ever before. We have also seen adult time for violent crime increasing the likelihood of jail for those who do harm in the community. The largest police service in this country is Victoria Police – 76,000 arrests. We thank them for the work they do every day – an amazing job. As Deputy Commissioner Hill said today:

… we are … committed to ensuring our highly trained officers are where they are needed most – in the community, patrolling the streets, deterring criminal behaviour and preventing crime.

On this side of the house we back the Chief Commissioner of Police’s plan to get more frontline police driving vans and not driving desks to keep people safe. There is $62 million for police reservists to bring experienced officers back to the front line to support our frontline police and $44 million for 50 additional PSOs. We are also seeing our violence reduction unit turn lives around while bringing significant consequences for those who do the wrong thing in the community. Operation Pulse in our shopping centres has also been a game changer, with 1000 arrests and 2000 charges. Can I say that those opposite, when they were last in government, cut the police budget by $100 million. When you get into bed with One Nation, you wake up with a nightmare on Spring Street.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Macedon is warned.