Friday, 14 November 2025

 Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (12:34): My question is to the Minister for Youth Justice. Last night the Victorian Ombudsman sent an extraordinary letter to members of Parliament warning of dire consequences from the government’s announcement they would sentence children as if they were adults. The Ombudsman painted a horrific picture of a chaotic and unprofessional Victorian prison system that is already unable to humanely manage prisoners. Minister, do you accept the Victorian Ombudsman’s assessment that your announcement this week will lead to the less humane treatment of prisoners, less effective rehabilitation and less community safety in the long run?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:34): In short, no. But what I will say is I want to thank the Ombudsman for sharing their view. It is important that we do state that the Ombudsman is one of many oversight bodies in our state that manage our corrections and youth justice system. We have the Auditor-General, we have IBAC, we have WorkSafe and we have the independent prison visitor scheme. There are many, many bodies that do that important work, and the Ombudsman’s coverage is only one part of that picture.

But I do want to thank her for her interest and her concern. I did just see that letter before I entered the chamber today. I will draft a letter and respond to her concerns in due course, and I thank her for sharing that.

 Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (12:35): Minister, the Ombudsman’s assessment is in line with state Labor’s own Youth Justice Strategic Plan 2020–2030, which is based entirely on the principle that community safety and youth justice are best achieved through age-appropriate responses. If you reject the Ombudsman’s assessment and now also reject the key principle of your own evidence-based youth justice strategy, is it true that state Labor’s youth justice policy is no longer based on experts and evidence of what works but is now being led by election polling, focus groups and the beliefs of two imaginary Victorians called Mary and Joe?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:36): I thank Ms Gray-Barberio for her supplementary question. What I will say is that we prioritise community safety first. That has always been the case with every single piece of legislation that we have brought to this chamber. We will continue to do that, and we do that with no apologies. Our policies and our proposals, which we will be debating in this place shortly, are focused and targeted on that high-level harm that has been caused in the community, and again, I make no apologies for that.