Bec Judd applauded for calling Melbourne ‘woke, broke and violent’ for its handling of crime

Bec Judd called Melbourne “woke” and “broke” - and her assessment has sparked a massive response from the public and politicians.

Rebecca Judd has been applauded by Liberal MPs for using her influence to become the unofficial community advocate for cracking down on violent crime in Melbourne.

The businesswoman and TV personality, who lives in the affluent suburb of Brighton with her husband, former AFL star Chris Judd, and their four children, has become known for being vocal about her concerns.

“Melbourne this is sad. Woke, broke and violent. I can’t believe we are living like this,” she recently shared to her 757,000 Instagram followers on the topic.

The 41-year-old has been both praised for using her platform to bring attention to crime in her neighbourhood, and criticised for complaining given her luxurious lifestyle.

Sandringham MP and shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell, who hosted a community safety forum last week, said it was wrong to discredit or disrespect Judd’s views.

“What she is doing is really just calling it out as it is. She is saying what so many people in my community are thinking,” he told news.com.au on Tuesday.

“What she is doing is standing up for innocent victims in her community and the government should be listening to her.”

Brighton MP James Newbury agreed Judd’s voice was “important and every member of the community should be encouraged to speak out”.

Bec Judd has described Melbourne as “woke, broke and violent”. Picture: Mark Stewart

Judd first drew huge attention back in May 2022 when she said she felt unsafe in her multimillion-dollar mansion and claimed the Victorian government didn’t “seem to care” or be doing anything about violent crime in Bayside.

She said she personally knew two women who had experienced home invasions in Brighton in recent weeks.

Then-premier Daniel Andrews hit back at the comments, claiming “the data would tell a different story”.

“I’m not interested in having an argument with Ms Judd,” he said at the time.

“I’m also obliged to point out though, I think there are more than 70 additional police in the Bayside area, and the most recent crime statistics released by an independent agency would not support those sweeping assessments about patterns of crime.”

Judd took aim at the state government and Premier Jacinta Allan again earlier this year after the Herald Sun revealed an “extreme” group of 80 repeat youth offenders had all been arrested more than 10 times in the past 12 months.

“Victoria Police are doing their job. The justice system and State Government are not,” Judd wrote alongside a screenshot of the article.

“@jacintaallanmp stays quiet while we wonder if a gang of machete wielding youths are going to invade our homes while our children sleep.

“Lock bail offenders up. Ban machetes and other weapons. There’s a start.”

She lives in Brighton with her husband, Chris, and their four children. Picture: Instagram/Bec Judd

Judd at the famous Brighton Beach boxes. Picture: Instagram/Bec Judd

In response to more discourse on the issue this week, Victoria Police and the Victorian government both reiterated that Bayside was one of the safest places to live in Melbourne, referring to statistics that the local government area had the third lowest number of criminal offences of all 31 metropolitan LGAs.

But speaking to news.com.au on Tuesday, Mr Newbury said this was a cop out.

He referred to data from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency that showed residential aggravated burglaries – meaning someone is home at the time of the crime – had increased 33 per cent in Victoria last year, but had “much higher” growth in Bayside at 43 per cent.

“When you compare all crimes, Bayside might be low, but my community is getting pretty sick and tired of the Labor Government saying aggravated crimes in Bayside don’t matter,” Mr Newbury said.

“On Saturday a gang was [allegedly] running around grocery stores assaulting people. Labor needs to stop excusing those crimes by talking them down.”

A group of teens are alleged to have been responsible for the armed robberies of four supermarkets in Cheltenham, Brighton, Mount Waverley and Camberwell on Saturday.

On Monday, a Victorian government spokeswoman told news.com.au in a statement: “When factoring in the significant population growth across particular LGAs and across Melbourne over the past decade, overall crime remains at one of its lowest levels.

“However we know that when these sorts of crimes do happen, their impact on victims can be devastating – everyone should feel safe in their own home.

“While Victoria has one of the lowest rates of youth offending in Australia, Victoria Police has identified a select cohort of young people who are driving an increase of repeat offences. To help address this, we will develop a trial of electronic monitoring – to ensure bail conditions are adhered to, accompanied with more intensive bail supervision.

“As part of Operation Trinity, police are out every single night until dawn addressing this type of offending, which is reflected in the high arrest and vehicle recovery rates.”

Victoria Police said it had arrested over 1400 burglars and car thieves as part of Operation Trinity over the past year and the overwhelming majority of those arrested were child and youth offenders.

A police spokesman said “almost 65 per cent of aggravated burglaries in Bayside last month were through unlocked doors/windows or unsuccessful attempts.”

Mr Rowswell said the community safety forum held in Beaumaris last week, which was attended by Victoria Police, was in response to an influx of calls and emails to his office.

“Members of my community were absolutely frustrated that police are doing a terrific job catching crooks and delivering them to the justice system, which is then failing communities,” he said.

He is calling for more investment in the justice system because it “isn’t working fast enough and isn’t delivering the results to keep communities safe.”

Bayside Mayor Fiona Stitfold wrote to Ms Allen and Police Minister Anthony Carbines in April calling for more police to address community safety issues.

“With Council doing all we can to support local community safety in partnership with local police, it is time for the Victorian Government to direct more attention and resources on this issue,” she said in a statement.

Judd has 757,000 followers on Instagram and is co-founder of activewear brand Jaggad.

Last year, she competed on The Amazing Race: Celebrity Edition.

Her previous television roles have included hosting Postcards and presenting weekend weather on Nine News Melbourne.