Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to follow the contribution of the member for Fenner, but it is disappointing that we are having this debate. I will, in the very short time available to me, set out the reasons why. It was only a few weeks ago that an almost identical motion was put before this House by another Victorian MP, and it makes one wonder why it is they want to talk about these state issues rather than the agenda of the government. Perhaps that is a question we all know the answer to: this is a rudderless government.

It was particularly striking to see the contribution to this debate from the member for Murray, someone I have a lot of time for. It is ironic in the extreme given that he came to this place from the state parliament of Victoria and, indeed, he was a member of the former coalition government under which most crime indicators in Victoria began to rise, a matter he did not dwell on in that portion of his contribution that I was present for. This motion speaks to very little other than the sense of this government needing to create distractions.

The member for Fenner, on the other hand, spoke to some really significant and important matters that members of this place should be concerned about: the costs of incarceration to the community generally and the particularly shocking statistic that an Aboriginal man is more likely to find himself in jail than going to university. These are challenges which we have levers in this place to respond to, as opposed to the chorus of complaint that is contained in this motion.

I note that much of the motion is tendentious and much of it is straight-out wrong. The comments on the need to strengthen Victoria's bail system strike me as inopportune given that strengthening has already happened. On the other matters that it touches on, like the devotion of more resources to community safety in Victoria, please! We know the Victorian government has already attended to these matters through recruiting 2,729 extra police.

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