Tuesday, 12 May 2026

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (13:59): On 1 April I called on the Minister for Police to increase the hours for PSOs at Mernda station so that they start to patrol in the hours when students are travelling home from school. A month later there was still no response from the minister, but there was another attack on a teenager at Mernda station. A 15-year-old girl on her way home from school had been bashed and robbed at the very same place where Aidan Becker was killed. After that tragic incident Jacinta Allan said she was sending in her violence reduction unit, but it is clear the unit has not made Mernda station safer, and the minister still will not commit to starting PSOs earlier at Mernda station. Crime is out of control under Labor, and the government’s response is just not good enough.