Victoria may be forced to outlaw sale of machetes in bid to combat rising crime crisis

A statewide ban on machetes will be proposed by Cabinet next week after the Allan government, for more than a year, stubbornly resisted calls to put such a ban in place.

• Deery: Crime crisis splitting Allan government

The Allan government will look to outlaw machetes across the state in a bid to get on top of Victoria’s spiralling crime crisis.

The Herald Sun can reveal a statewide ban will be canvassed by Cabinet next week as Premier Jacinta Allan comes under increasing internal pressure to tackle the scourge.

Under the ban an amnesty would be introduced ahead of the prohibition of both the sale and possession of machetes.

Senior government sources said the ban was listed to be discussed at last week’s Cabinet meeting before the Premier personally intervened to remove it from the agenda.

The intervention is understood to have infuriated colleagues, including Police Minister Anthony Carbines, amid concern the government has been too slow to respond to the crime crisis.

The Allan government will look to outlaw machetes in Victoria. Picture: Supplied

Minister Natalie Hutchins on Saturday said the government would strengthen knife laws as part of a “complete package” of reforms to crack down on violent crime.

She conceded that changes last year were failing to stamp out the concerning trend, saying it was “time to step it up even further”.

“Certainly, everyone in government knows that there are way too many people carrying knives and machetes, particularly knives, at the moment, and that more needs to be done,” she said.

“We have changed the legislation around this, but it’s obviously time to step it up even further.”

Ms Hutchins said she would support “any bans” that were brought forward by the Attorney-General and the Police Minister.

“We’ll be looking at a complete package in reform to really boost the confidence of Victorians to feel safe out about in the community and in their homes,” she said.

Natalie Hutchins says it’s time to step up the legistation ‘even further’. Picture: Gary Ramage

Ms Allan has repeatedly conceded her government is failing to keep Victorians safe and admitted it must do more to crack down on a worsening violent youth crime wave.

The government has for more than a year resisted calls to implement a statewide machete ban in a move that has divided the Labor caucus.

She has ordered a review into existing legislation, including bail laws, to determine what policy interventions she can make to ease the crisis.

Police were given sweeping new powers to stop the sale of machetes to youth gang members in March last year.

New laws made it illegal to possess a machete without a lawful reason, or to sell them to children.

Despite the laws, police last year seized 40 weapons a day from Victorian streets – the biggest haul in a decade.

Police have noted an increase in the number of teens using machetes. Picture: Supplied

A record 14,797 knives, swords, daggers, and machetes were seized throughout the year, renewing calls for a tougher weapons crackdown.

Police have noted an increase in the number of teens using machetes while crimes by 10 to 17-year-olds have reached their highest point since 2010.

It is understood former chief commissioner Shane Patton lobbied the government to implement a full machete ban.

He told a parliamentary ­inquiry in 2023 that the force had raised the prospect of tougher weapons laws, adding that knife crime was a “significant issue”.

“We’re very cognisant of the spate of knife crime that we’ve seen,” he told the inquiry.

“A young person can’t be carrying a machete around in public … there’s no reason for them and they shouldn’t be carrying them around.”

The state opposition this week failed in a bid to move an amendment to make machetes prohibited weapons.

The state opposition this week failed in a bid to move an amendment to make machetes prohibited weapons. Picture: Supplied

Opposition police spokesman David Southwick accused the Premier of squibbing an ­opportunity to take real action by backing the idea.

“Victorians shouldn’t be left to take matters into their own hands because they have no confidence in the government’s ability to keep them safe,” he said.

“Premier Allan must get her head out of the sand and take real action today to end the crime crisis and restore community safety across Victoria.”

During debate about strengthening weapons laws, Labor MP Nathan Lambert said there was no place for ­machetes in Victoria, including for agricultural use.

“All of us who have spent time on farms know that there is no need on a modern farm or in fact in almost any modern industry to have a machete,” Mr Lambert said.

“Certainly even in my own time I never saw my parents or grandparents, both of whom farmed, have a machete around the toolshed.

“It simply was not a tool we needed – and there is certainly no need for people to be walking around urban environments with those weapons.”

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Originally published as Victoria may be forced to outlaw sale of machetes in bid to combat rising crime crisis