‘Sentences will be serious, and the consequences will be real’: Brad Battin unveils strategy to crack down on Victoria’s raging crime
Victorian criminals could face tougher sentences under major reforms being considered by the state opposition, with Brad Battin revealing his plan for “clear and firm” justice to crack down on the state’s record crime.
Victorian criminals could face tougher sentences under major reforms being considered by the state opposition.
The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal Opposition Leader Brad Battin is canvassing a crackdown of the state’s existing sentencing regime if elected to government next year.
It comes after the latest crime statistics data revealed the worst crime rate on record.
Mr Battin on Saturday lashed Labor’s record on crime, saying there had been an overall 40 per cent increase in offending compared to when Labor came to power in 2014.
He said an additional 166,868 crimes were committed a year since that time, as well as an additional 7,185 additional youth crimes.
There had been a 218 per cent increase in aggravated burglaries and an almost doubling of motor vehicle theft.
In a retail setting, weapons offences, assaults and thefts had also all doubled, despite Premier Jacinta Allan last year vowing to introduce better protections for retail workers.
Despite the huge surge in crime, Crime Statistics Agency data shows the victimisation rate had fallen from 4773.5 per 100,000 population in 2014 to 3956.8 this year.
The latest figure however was a significant 16.1 per cent increase on last year.
“A Liberals and Nationals government will be tougher on crime and smarter on justice than Labor,” Mr Battin said.
“We’ll make bail laws stronger. If you break bail, you face jail – because accountability matters. We’ll introduce Jack’s Law, giving police and PSOs the tools and technology they need to get knives off the streets before tragedy strikes.
“And when crimes are committed, the sentences will be serious, and the consequences will be real. Justice will be clear and firm.
“We cannot arrest our way out of this problem.
“We need to give our young people pathways out of crime – and we will provide programs that steer them toward education, toward work, and toward hope.
“It’s time for a fresh start. A safer, stronger Victoria – one where families can live free from fear, and where every young person has a fair shot at a better future.”
The Premier has in recent weeks conceded more needs to be done to address worsening youth crime.
The crisis has plagued her government for well over a year with the government moving to tighten bail laws, ban machetes and crackdown on repeat offenders.
Senior government sources say the issue has become the biggest threat to the government’s hopes of re-election.
The state’s overall crime level is now the worst on record after it jumped 14 per cent this year, while domestic violence soared yet again to another record high, with 106,427 reported incidents in the past year, up from about 98,000 the previous year.
Police arrested the same 1100 kids aged between 10 and 17 years old at least 7000 times in the past year to June — an average of a child being arrested at least six times each.
They blame that cohort for more than 60 per cent of home invasions, almost half of all aggravated burglaries — as well as at least one in five car thefts.
Shadow police minister David Southwick, said crime would fall “when there are real consequences.”
“Every Victorian has the right to feel secure at home. To walk the street without fear. To live in a community that is safe,” he said.
“Victorians pay twenty million dollars a day in interest on Labor’s debt. That is money lost. Money that could hire more police. Buy wands to take knives off thugs. Fund programs that keep kids from crime.”
A government spokesperson said it was distorted to compare crime data from ten years ago to today because of contributing factors like COVID lockdowns and population growth.
“We won’t take lectures from Brad Battin’s extreme and reckless Liberals who didn’t fund a single new police officer and will cut if given the chance,” she said.
“We’ve implemented tougher laws to back the work of Victoria Police who are arresting a record number of offenders – but we know there’s more to do.
“Australia’s toughest bail test will come into effect later this month and our nation-leading machete ban and expanded stop and search powers are taking a record number of dangerous weapons off our streets.”
