Jack’s Law: Brett Beasley on the fight to get lifesaving measure adopted Australia-wide

It’s taken hundred of knives off Queensland streets. It has huge support from the public and police. With Australia in shock over events in Sydney, a crusading couple is now pushing to get Jack’s Law nationwide.

Few people can possibly truly understand the grief experienced by the families of the six people stabbed to death in a senseless act of violence at a Sydney Westfield last Saturday.

One of those few is Brett Beasley, whose 17-year-old son Jack was in December 2019 also stabbed to death in a senseless act of violence at Surfers Paradise.

Now Mr Beasley is calling for powers under Jack’s Law – allowing Queensland Police Service officers using metal detecting wands to randomly search people for knives at public transport hubs and Safe Night precincts – to be extended across Australia.

“Jack’s Law is such an important law, and not just because it’s named after our son. It’s so important for everybody. It’s keeping the community safe,” he said.

“It’s got to go nationwide.

“We here in Queensland are not the only ones that have these problems.

“I’m pushing for every single police officer in the country to carry these wands to detect people at random.”

Brett and Belinda Beasley talking with a picture of their son Jack. Picture: Jerad Williams.

It seems a “no-brainer”. According to police, in the year since Jack’s Law was passed in March 2023 following a campaign by Mr Beasley and wife Belinda, 508 weapons were seized during 4100 wanding operations, in which 51,000 individuals were scanned. Police have apprehended 1,369 people on 2,469 charges.

What statistics cannot tell us is the number of lives saved, or injuries prevented, but it’s likely to have been significant.

“For more than 500 weapons to be taken off the streets in a year, that’s 500 potential acts of violence disrupted, and people protected,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Andrew Massingham said.

For Mr Beasley, however, there is far more that could be done. He has also been campaigning since August for the police powers to be extended to shopping centres following an incident at another Westfield – this time at Helensvale – where a security guard was lucky to escape with his life after being stabbed.

Floral tributes on the mall at Bondi Junction after six people were fatally stabbed at the adjacent Westfield on Saturday. Picture: Richard Dobson.

The Queensland government looks likely to agree, with Premier Steven Miles saying the case was “compelling” after what happened in Sydney. But Mr Beasley will not be stopping there.

“I’ve been pushing for these laws to be expanded into shopping centres for months now. It really needs to be done. Sooner rather than later,” he said.

“Then it needs to go in every single public area. It needs to go in parks, it needs to go around the beaches, it needs to go wherever the public can go. That’s why I say police officers need to have the wand as part of their kit.”

Weapons seized by Queensland Police during a wanding operation under Jack’s Law.

Again, it seems a “no-brainer”. Police are heavily backing the campaign to extend wanding powers to shopping centres.

Our readers agree too, with an online poll showing a whopping 92 per cent backing the push.

There seems little reason to object when innocent young lives could potentially be saved.

And in fact, part of the great success of Jack’s Law has been to demonstrate how accepting the public have been of the need for the random police searches, even when they are being searched themselves.

Mr Beasley compares it to being searched at an airport. Everybody submits to it, because they know it’s ultimately protecting their safety.

“If you’re driving around in your car they can pull you at random and test you for drink driving. Why can’t they randomly search you for weapons?,” he said.

“You randomly get searched getting onto aeroplanes because no one wants weapons on aeroplanes, but you don’t randomly get searched for getting on trains while carrying a knife.”

Police wanding revellers for knives in Surfers Paradise. Picture: Richard Gosling.

Sources in government and the police say there is a wider context, a way that Jack’s Law is saving lives, even beyond the weapons seized. Across much of the western world – London is a prime example – knife crime has been a rapidly growing problem in recent years. A culture has developed among some young people that makes the carrying of knives somehow seem acceptable.

Jack’s Law says firmly and clearly that it is not. Authorities believe that conducting high visibility police wanding operations doesn't just take knives off kids on the street, it discourages them from carrying them in the first place.

The law is already in place in the Northern Territory. It is actively being examined by authorities in Western Australia, likely to be the next state to follow suit.

A wanding metal detector used by NT Police. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Mr Beasley hopes eastern seaboard states will also follow Queensland’s lead.

“I’m actually from NSW originally. I’ve got family down there, I’ve got nieces and nephews down there. Everybody wants Jack’s Law down there in NSW,” he said.

“The authorities down there keep saying to me that they have wanding powers down there. Yes they do. But they do not have the same powers as the Queensland Police Service have.

“Queensland Police do not need a reason to scan or wand anybody now, whereas the NSW Police Service need to have a reason to wand you.

“ ... That’s the difference between Jack’s Law and the other laws.”

Jack Beasley.

If it does indeed spread nationwide as he hopes – and goodness knows, that after what happened in Bondi, the public will be right behind it – who knows how many lives will have been saved.

And how many families will have been saved from the awful trauma that the Beasleys have gone through.

“The Queensland people follow us. Everyone wants their kids safe. And that’s why we do what we do,” Mr Beasley said.

“We don’t want any other family to go through what we’ve been through. It’s horrendous, I can tell you. It’s not good at all.

“I made my son a promise, the last time I saw him. I made him a promise that I would keep his name going. And that’s what I’m doing.”

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