Tuesday, 3 February 2026

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (21:14): (2259) My adjournment tonight is to the Minister for Police as well. It is no secret that I have had to speak so many times in this place about crime and about incidents that have taken place throughout my region. Recently there was a whole lot of footage that was put out of a number of young people that stormed a Woolworths store. There were hundreds of them – in fact a lot more than what the papers recorded, because by the time the person took out their camera and was filming it from their phone, they had actually missed half the people that had gone into the store and caused the damage. My understanding is that Woolworths has not pressed any charges. Rumours around the area say that they were not locals, but the reality is that there definitely were a bunch of locals in amongst the mix of young people that were there, and some of the parents were quite appalled to look on national television and see their own children running into that store and causing havoc. It is no secret either, that I had a constituent call me about a bashing on a bus, and that situation resulted in a head injury and a report to the police.

In recent times I have been looking at what has been happening in Frankston. Frankston’s crime rate has surged. Yet, like with many other police stations throughout the south-east, we do not have enough police – and we do not have police stations that can be manned throughout the south-east for 24 hours. So the action I seek from the minister is to outline what specific additional resources will be allocated to the Frankston police station to address the 10 per cent spike in crime, which has now reached its highest level in a decade. For years this government has claimed that the south-east is getting the resources it needs. Well, just ask the people of the south-east, and they will tell you that is not the case. Figures from the Crime Statistics Agency Victoria tell us a far more sobering story, and my constituents in Frankston know that this is true. Here are some of the facts: criminal incidents in the Frankston area surged by 10 per cent from last year, reaching over 13,500 recorded incidents in the LGA. The crime rate in Frankston is now roughly 9320 per 100,000 people, which is higher than the statewide average, and theft from motor vehicles is rampant, with over 2000 incidents recorded in the last reporting period alone. Residents are telling my office that they are now starting to avoid the Frankston CBD, especially after dark, due to a growing sense of lawlessness and a sense that they do not feel safe. Minister, we need you to do something about it.