James Campbell: The Coalition has cut through bail law silence with a machete policy red herring

The Coalition’s sudden need to exhibit a timeline of Liberal machete based policies illuminates how little they’ve had to do with Jacinta Allan’s decision to change Victoria’s bail laws.

Nothing better illustrates how little the Liberals have had to do with Jacinta Allan’s decision to change Victoria’s bail laws than the way Brad Battin’s staff felt the need at Thursday’s press conference to hand out a timeline of all their machete-based policy initiatives since 2023.

What makes this even sadder is the people being given this – widely spaced – two-page reminder are the only people in Australia whose job is to keep an eye on what the opposition gets up to.

Did you know for example that in November 2023 the Coalition introduced a private member’s bill to class machetes as prohibited weapons?

Or that in February last year they moved an amendment to a government bill in the lower house to impose stricter regulations on their sale and possession?

Did you further know that a month later they moved to amend a government bill in the upper house to – oh, sorry hang on -that’s the same one.

Brad Battin’s staff felt the need at to hand out a helpful machete policy initiative timeline. Picture: Diego Fedele

Yeah, well anyway, in March this year, they had another crack at effectively banning them.

The sudden need to impress upon us how busy they’ve been is no great shock.

Because during months and months in which the Herald Sun had been drawing attention to – and later campaigning against – the ridiculous state of the state’s bail laws, the alternative government of Victoria has refused to tell us what they would be doing if they were in power.

Which is odd when you consider whatever their other shortcomings, the (failed) Liberal manifestos from 2014 and 2018 were not short of ideas for law and order.

Even more bizarrely, this silence continued even through a by-election in the notorious crime hot spot of Chapel Street.

Actually, that’s not quite true, in December the Liberal candidate – now MP – for Prahran, Rachel Westaway announced at a press conference – with Battin at her side – that if she had her way Vic teens would be facing ‘adult time for adult crime’.

But apart from that thought bubble there’s been nothing from the Liberals even as it became as clear as day Jacinta Allan was going to move on bail.

Rachel Westaway wants teens to face ‘adult time for adult crime’. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Which is why it was rich for Michael O’Brien and David Southwick to complain in a press release on Wednesday that despite the announcement the government had yet to release the legislation, leaving key questions unanswered.

“Where’s the detail? Where are the bills? If the government was serious about fixing the mess they created, they’d have legislation available today,” O’Brien whinged.

Sorry mate but where’s your homework?

Originally published as James Campbell: The Coalition has cut through bail law silence with a machete policy red herring