Wednesday, 12 November 2025

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (23:11): (2084) My adjournment is to the Attorney-General, and it concerns a very significant letter sent to the Attorney on 5 November regarding an increase in violent crime across Hume city. I want to thank Cr Jim Overend for moving a notice of motion in council to write to the Minister for Police and the Attorney-General and the Minister for Education to get an update on how they can help Hume City Council with violent incidents that are occurring and eliminate the fear of many residents, particularly the elderly, going about their daily business. You only have to go to Broadmeadows Central to see that. I know that many Hume City Council staff have contacted my office very concerned about their safety, given machete fights are happening in the car park of their council offices.

I want to use this opportunity to also congratulate – it happened tonight – the new mayor of Hume City Council Carly Moore and the new deputy mayor Ally Watson, both good friends and colleagues that I know advocate for their community very strongly. So it is really good to see that the council will have a very, very strong voice in Hume city advocating for better services, and this is part of that, Minister. The council, I am aware, wrote to you, Minister, to seek an understanding of how the government’s new bail laws are being implemented across the state and to raise several concerns about the lawlessness placing the wider Victorian community at risk. What we are seeing locally is creating immense fear for residents. That is definitely the case. My office is just up the road from Broadmeadows in Meadow Heights, and I know people come in on a daily basis concerned about violent incidents of crime in Hume city. It is really out of control. This letter notes that we also saw the lockdown of and shocking machete fight outside Greenvale Secondary College, which was a huge concern. I note that the bail laws, which they asked about, were the toughest. We were told that these were the toughest possible laws, and yet now the minister and the government are coming back to the well for even tougher laws. I was shocked to see in reports today that both the Attorney-General and the Treasurer were not supportive of going further and not supportive of the government’s so-called adult time for violent crime – thanks, Mr Crisafulli – so I seek the action of the minister, and I ask what she is doing to help solve the crime crisis in Hume city.