Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) there has been a significant increase in crime in Victoria;

(b) the latest figures from Victoria's Crime Statistics Agency show that the total number of offences reached 535,826 during the past financial year, an increase of 13.4 per cent, with assaults increasing by 11 per cent, robberies by 14 per cent, and aggravated burglaries by 7 per cent;

(c) Victorians increasingly feel unsafe in their homes and on their streets;

(d) the Victorian Government has lost control of the Victorian justice system; and

(e) Victoria has the most lenient bail laws in the country, a contributing factor in the prevalence of crime; and

(2) calls on the Victorian Government to:

(a) start taking crime and community safety seriously;

(b) dramatically strengthen Victoria's bail system;

(c) fix the crisis in the youth prison network, which has seen unprecedented riots and breakouts; and

(d) dedicate more resources to community safety and Victoria Police.

I have to say, I move this motion with great disappointment, because it reflects a problem now faced by the great state of Victoria, where crime has become an endemic part of our culture in a way that we have not known before. In fact, when this motion was originally presented to the chamber, the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency showed the total number of offences reached 535,826 during the past financial year, which was an increase of 13.4 per cent. I do not have it with me right now, but I do know that only last week new data was released that showed crime has continued to rise in the great state of Victoria.

In particular, the nature of the crime is shifting. As members may be aware, recently there was a terrorist incident in my electorate of Goldstein. I think that brought home to everybody not just the problems with crime but the violent nature of the crime. We are seeing home invasions, people attacked and carjackings as well as terrorist incidents and deaths. Tragically, in Victoria we have seen assaults increase by 11 per cent, robberies increase by 14 per cent and aggravated burglaries increase by seven per cent.

I am not alarmist on these issues. One of the great things about living in this country is that we have traditionally had low rates of crime, but what we are seeing is a relatively rapid increase in the rate of crime, and it is having a human effect. I talk often to constituents who are concerned about the rate of crime now within my community or neighbouring communities and how much it has an impact on their sense of safety, particularly for older Australians. Older Australians, from the first position, have always lived in a relatively crime-free society, but in addition to that are increasingly fearful of leaving their homes or being exposed to the risks of what happens when they confront somebody who wants to break and enter their home or may do something like break into their car.

Surely, I would have thought that all members, regardless of your views and political persuasions, would accept the principal obligation of every government is to protect citizens from undue harm. The crime wave that has swept across the great state of Victoria continues to cause angst and fear for that harm. We have been forced to confront the idea that our communities are no longer safe and harmonious. We have now exceeded half a million offences during the past financial year, as I read out before. Only a couple of weeks ago, we had the tragic death in my electorate, as I said, of Kai Hao, who was murdered by a man who should never have been walking our streets. This is the reality. A lot of people are asking, including the Prime Minister in his leadership after this incident, why this man was on bail and whether there is now a crisis around bail. I know COAG is now acting to reform the bail crisis that is not just in Victoria but across the country.

Particularly, I think we have to look very clearly of the role of the current state government, led by Daniel Andrews, who has actually been far too dismissive of these risks and the impact it has on community safety, as well as the justice system. I am not going to try to pretend there are easy answers. Having proper engagement programs to ensure that young Australians have pathways for constructive involvement with their community is very important. As the saying goes, idle hands do the devil's work. That is why we have to make sure that we do have the social and support infrastructure in place to make sure that we do not have people committing crimes.

It is also hard to ignore the problems with sentencing, bail laws and the watered down and closed police stations that we now have. The Premier has promised to tackle the violent youth gangs who have consistently terrorised Victorians, but clearly has not made the progress that I am sure even he concedes he would like to have achieved. As I said, I have examples of carjackings just outside of my electorate and far too many examples are now occurring—in fact, one only relatively recently—within my electorate as well. There is clearly a need for bail law reform, and I recognise the leadership of the Prime Minister and also of COAG in bringing that about at their recent meeting. But we need more leadership at the state government level.

This is what I hear from my constituents. Just to quote Jonathon, who lives in my electorate. He wrote three separate letters addressed to the Victorian Minister for Police. He wrote: 'This is not the Melbourne I grew up in. It seems that having home invasions and carjackings are now the norm and we are expected to accept it.' This is not a reality that I will accept and neither should any other Victorian member of parliament. The tragedy of this is Jonathon has written these letters, but the state government and the ministers have not even bothered to reply. (Time expired)

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