Tuesday, 3 February 2026

 Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (21:11): (2258) Tonight I wish to draw attention to the sharp rise in crime across the City of Whitehorse. The figures show that criminal incidents in Whitehorse have risen from 8212 to 9589 in just one year, an increase of over 16 per cent, and that is not a marginal change. It is a significant jump that residents across Box Hill, Blackburn, Forest Hill and surrounding suburbs are already feeling in their daily lives. Of particular concern is the nature of offences driving this increase. The most common principal offence is theft from motor vehicles, with more than 2300 incidents recorded. This is followed by other theft, motor vehicle theft, theft from retail stores and criminal damage. These are not abstract statistics. They affect real people, real lives and real quality of living. The data also shows that houses and street locations account for the majority of offences. What that highlights is that crime is occurring where people live, walk and raise their families. Box Hill recorded the highest number of incidents, followed by Mitcham, Burwood East, Blackburn and Forest Hill.

Equally troubling is the low rate of resolution. Only 22 per cent of incidents resulted in charges being laid, and while 67 per cent remain unsolved, that means two out of every three victims are left without answers, accountability, justice or a sense that they are somehow safer. This rise in crime has occurred while the government continues to prioritise everything else except the safety of our community. The absolutely tragic statistic is that right now we have less police than when Jacinta Allan became Premier. Despite a supposed massive recruitment campaign, we have nearly 400 less police than we did two years ago, and the number of police is also undermined by the fact that we have lost experienced police. We have new police, but they are new on the job and do not have the experience. We do not have street patrols. We have police stations closed, including in my electorate. What we do not have is any semblance of a plan for how we restore this. Ten years ago all our police stations were open. Now we have got 500,000 more people living in the state, and we have got less police, less police stations and more crime. The action I seek from the Minister for Police is to restore minimum staffing to police stations and provide a clear timetable to rebuild frontline police numbers.