Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Victims of crime

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:29): (1708) My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Victims. The action that I seek is for the minister to meet with the family of Jack, the 18-year-old who was brutally assaulted in Pakenham, and explain what immediate steps the government is taking to stop this consistent pattern of youth gang attacks.

Jack was recently at a birthday party. He was about to head home, which he should be able to do, and he was grabbed, dragged away and bashed by a group of masked youths. Not only was he beaten unconscious – they filmed it, they celebrated it and they posted it online like it was a massive achievement. His eye socket was fractured, and he is awaiting some surgery. He now has double vision and ongoing trauma. His parents were forced to drive him to hospital themselves because they waited over 2 hours for an ambulance which never came. When Jack’s mother contacted the Premier, she heard nothing back – not a call, not even a reply. But she did hear from victims of crime, who told her to expect a call back within three to five days. This is not justice. This is an absolute joke not just for one boy but for every Victorian relying on the basic promise of safety and justice.

What Labor have done is they have cut $78 million from police and court funding. They have watched police stations around the state reduce their hours or shut their doors due to understaffing. And they have allowed our courts to become so backlogged that serious offenders walk free on bail, sometimes within just 90 minutes of being arrested. It took Labor 471 days to finally act on our call to ban machetes, and that was just the lowest possible hanging fruit. It only takes one horrific experience to destroy a whole family, and probably that family will never be rebuilt in a lifetime in some of these situations. I urge the Minister for Victims to do something about it and meet with the family.