Wednesday, 1 April 2026

 Jacinta ERMACORA (Western Victoria) (14:02): Crime is a very important issue. I thank Dr Heath for raising the issue of crime even though I have a difference of view on some of the issues, and that is what I am going to emphasise in my brief contribution today. Just covering off the government’s interventions in this space, we are delivering the serious consequences early interventions plan; introducing a number of major reforms to reduce violent crime by youths; and adult time for violent crime. I am not going to go over these because I know, having listened to my colleagues, they have been covered very well. We have increased the maximum penalty for recruiting a child to engage in a violent offence to 15 years imprisonment; we are backing the Chief Commissioner of Police’s overhaul of Victoria Police with powers and resources to get police reservists out from behind their desks; expanding visible policing out into the community; establishing a world-leading violence reduction unit; and investing $5.6 million in early intervention officers in schools.

That is the overview of the issue. In the 4 minutes that I have, I want to talk about the recent crime figures for Warrnambool, which is where I live. I did recently visit the Warrnambool police and they said the highest category of crime was family violence and sexual assault – these are still the highest categories of crime in the state actually, and they are not even mentioned in this motion. The most significant crimes occurring in our state are not mentioned in the motion. The second most common crime was speeding and distraction, and that is obviously discovered through car accidents and interventions, which are again not mentioned in the motion.

To draw down into specifics of what is happening with crime in Warrnambool, basically there are some ups and downs in the aggregate figures which constitute a 0.1 per cent increase, so I think what we have got is ups and downs equals the same. But if we drill into some of the specific issues, we see exactly what I have been saying. Crimes against the person offences are up. That has been driven by an increase in sexual offences, which are up 77.2 per cent to 202 offences, and that is in Warrnambool. That is basically backing up what I have been saying. But there is good news: property and deception offences were down 11 per cent; and there was a decrease in theft, which was down 18 per cent, property damage was down 5.6 per cent and drug offences were down 14.8 per cent – that was driven by a decrease in drug use and possession, which was down 18.4 per cent. In this regional capital city of nearly 40,000 people the profile is a bit unique, and we are thankful for that. I do thank the Warrnambool police for the service that they provide. When you are a regional police officer, you are not just a police officer, you belong to that community. If you join a sporting club, you will find yourself on a committee straight away. That is what I know. There is always more asked of police officers in regional communities. That can sometimes be draining, but it is also an honour and a privilege, and our community is all the better for it.

I am concerned about the rates of family violence and sexual assault in all of our communities. I really would like to see more discussion about the single biggest crime issue in our state, in our nation and likely around the world, and that is family violence and sexual assault. The women impacted by this are profoundly impacted throughout their lives. Their children are impacted and their extended family, workplaces and friends are impacted, and that provides an incredibly stressful environment for a huge number of people. If we have got about a third of our society affected by sexual assault and family violence, we must have about a third of our society perpetrating that. That is a huge issue for our community, and I think we have to try and face that and confront it. We have got youth crime in Melbourne, but I think the figures are getting better. I am really glad about and proud of what Labor is doing in that space, but we also need to focus on women as victims of crime.

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (14:08): I would like to thank Mr Limbrick, Mr Galea, Mr Luu, Mr Bourman, Mr Batchelor, Ms Terpstra and Ms Ermacora. It has been a very good conversation, and I want to thank them for that. Firstly, I note that both Mr Luu and Mr Bourman mentioned their work in the police force during this debate. I just want to thank the two of them and also, in the other place, Brad Battin – and I am sure there are many other people that were part of the police force – for the contribution they make to this community.

Jacinta Ermacora interjected.

Renee HEATH: And Jackson Taylor. I just want to say that the contribution each of these incredible people have made to the community is absolutely extraordinary, and that is regardless of how long they served for.

Some members also raised during this debate that one of our colleagues had called for the scrapping of the violence reduction unit, so I will be very clear: that is incorrect. That is not our policy. We are absolutely –

A member interjected.

Renee HEATH: No, you are not listening to me. That is not correct. That is not our policy. We are absolutely not even speaking about that. This is our stance: the coalition will guarantee more funding to crime prevention. That includes the $100 million crime prevention fund that will cover Jack’s law and the Restart and Youth Start programs. By the way, those are things that the colleague that you mentioned strongly supports, and I do want to put that straight on the record. But while you guys go on and you think you have got a bit of a gotcha moment, this is the reality: the Allan Labor government has cut crime prevention. You did it. You did not just say it, you did it, and that is the difference between the government and us. You guys cut $20 million from crime prevention. We are going to invest in crime prevention. The starting point for that I have spoken about just today is $100 million. Let me be very clear: it is not the Liberals that have scrapped prevention programs, it is you guys. You guys cut them just recently, so you can roast whoever you like around contributions and think you are quite funny, but the 750 people that become victims of crime every single day do not find you that funny.

Mr Limbrick said maybe the coalition should read some research on Jack’s law in Queensland and they will see it did not do anything. Funnily enough, I have some research right in front of me, and in Queensland Jack’s law, since coming in, has removed over 1200 weapons and has led to 3200 arrests. You might say ‘Oh, that could be anyone.’ If somebody is in a shopping centre or a train station and they are searched and there is a weapon hidden in their clothes – a machete, for instance – I can just about guarantee you that they are not on the way to mowing the lawn. Mr Galea boasted about the Allan Labor government having the toughest bail laws in the country, and I do want to acknowledge that, yes, they brought forward a bill called ‘the toughest bail laws’, and everyone apart from the government members saw straight through that and we amended it. We took the word ‘toughest’ out. But the truth is this: they amended it in 2023. They removed the charge of committing an indictable offence while on bail for youth offenders, and to this day they have not reinstated it. That is the truth.

Here are some other things. In 2016 Labor exempted minors from the offence of breaching bail conditions; they have not closed that for adults though. The bail conditions used in the tougher test, Labor weakened them, so they used to face a tougher test. Mr Batchelor spoke about how you are taking the advice of Chief Commissioner Bush and getting more police from out behind their desks and onto the streets. I think that is absolutely fantastic. However, what the statistics say is that every day in Victoria Victoria Police are 2000 police short. You might be intending to listen, but because of your mismanagement you do not have the resources to implement this plan. Thank you, everybody. It has been a great debate, and I commend the motion to the house.

Council divided on motion: