Thursday, 30 July 2026

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (18:46): (2664) I rise to raise an important matter for the Minister for Police regarding the temporary closure of Craigieburn police station and the impact it is having on my community. The action I seek is for the minister to provide a clear timeline for the reopening of Craigieburn police station to keep my community safe. This closure comes at the worst possible time. Residents across Craigieburn and the wider Hume community are already dealing with significant increases in crime, and they deserve the confidence that their local police station will be open and available when they most need it.

According to the independent Crime Statistics Agency, total criminal offences in Hume have increased by 28 per cent since September 2023; residential aggravated burglaries are up 11 per cent; family violence related serious assaults have increased by 78 per cent; motor vehicle theft has surged by 82 per cent; and prohibited weapons offences, including machete-related crimes, have risen by 31 per cent. There is a retail offence in Hume every 3 hours, or one in the Labor caucus room. These are not just statistics; these are real people who come to my office, who send me emails, who come up to me on the streets of Craigieburn, who have had their homes broken into, who have been victims of crime themselves and who no longer feel safe in their neighbourhoods. There is a real lack of trust when all of a sudden, without explanation, there is a temporary closure. We know that Craigieburn has had its hours reduced and then reduced again, but now it is just temporarily closed. Let us not forget that the police station is only 3 minutes drive away from where a 15-year-old was fatally stabbed and then left outside the Craigieburn Community Hospital.

The figures also show that there were 10,805 unsolved crimes in Hume in 2026, representing 47 per cent of all recorded offences. That is an alarming number, and it only adds to community concern about the level of crime across our suburbs. At a time when crime is rising, the temporary closure of Craigieburn police station sends exactly the wrong message. We know in the new Premier Ben Carroll’s first attempted coup he ran a line about keeping police stations open. This is the new Premier’s test: he is either going to be like Jacinta Allan and keep shutting down police stations or he can reopen Craigieburn police station. We will, under the Liberals and Nationals, hire 3000 new police so that we can keep our police stations like Craigieburn open under Jess Wilson, because Victoria darn sure needs a fresh start.