‘Problem with women’: Shock claim in Dan and Bec Judd clash

A startling allegation has been levelled against Daniel Andrews after he rebuffed Bec Judd’s concerns about home invasions.

Bec Judd’s local MP has hit back at the Victorian Premier after he rebuffed her concerns about a string of home invasions in Melbourne’s Bayside area.

James Newbury, who represents Brighton in the Victorian state parliament, made his stance clear after Daniel Andrews was accused of “victim blaming” Ms Judd on Sunday.

Mr Newbury said the Premier’s quips struck a nerve with women in his electorate who felt their concerns about local crime have been dismissed.

“There has been an extraordinary number of women who have frankly been offended by the way he dismissed those comments and those feelings,” he said.

“His behaviour in the press conference showed, in my view, that he has a problem with women.

“I mean, it was clear when he pretended to not remember Bec Judd’s name (at the press conference).”

Bec Judd raised her concerns about home break-ins in Bayside last week. Picture: Fiona Byrne

Mr Newbury went on to say Ms Judd deserved to voice her concerns despite living in an affluent area.

“It doesn’t matter who this woman is or what’s her postcode, when she raised the fact that she was scared because a home invasion occurred in her street, the Premier dismissed her and victim blamed her,” he said.

“It’s a deeply disturbing way for a Premier to respond to a woman’s concern about her safety.”

It comes after Mr Andrews said he’s “not interested in having an argument with Ms Judd” after she claimed the state government doesn’t care about Brighton residents’ safety concerns.

“I’m also obliged to point out, though, I think there are more than 70 additional police in the Bayside area,” Mr Andrews said.

“The most recent crime statistics released by an independent agency would not support those sweeping assessments about patterns of crime.”

Bec Judd’s Instagram post.

James Newbury, Brighton Liberal MP.

Mr Newbury said Ms Judd and others in Bayside’s well-heeled suburbs were entitled to their response.

“At the end of the day, if someone feels unsafe because of a string of home invasions, they’re perfectly entitled to those feelings and if a woman says she feels scared, shouldn’t we live in a community where we hear them?

“Just because someone’s postcode is 3186 doesn’t mean they’re not entitled to the same feelings as anyone else? Are you serious?”

The hit-back comes days after Ms Judd claimed she feels “unsafe” in her nearby mansion after a spike in “rapes, bashings and home invasions” in the area.

Ms Judd, a mother of four, owns a $7.3 million Brighton mansion with former AFL star husband Chris.

She took to Instagram to accuse the Victorian state government of allowing crime to get out of hand in the cashed-up area.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said there were 500 extra police officers deployed in 2022. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

“So sick of the rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of gangs in Bayside,’’ she wrote in an Instagram story on Thursday.

“I personally know 2 women who have experienced home invasions in Brighton in the last few weeks while they were at home.”

In response, Mr Andrews said Ms Judd “may have missed” May’s state Budget which included the deployment of more than 500 additional police officers and 50 PSOs.

“I say this respectfully to Bec Judd, or anybody – I don’t want anybody to feel unsafe,” he said.

“I’m sorry she feels that way. The data would tell a different story, but it is about personal feelings and your sense of safety.

“I hope that knowing those things, or perhaps learning those things, puts her mind at ease.”