By Chip Le Grand and Cassandra Morgan
The sale of machetes will be banned in Victoria with immediate effect as the Allan government seeks to stop the political fallout from an armed brawl between youth gangs at a shopping centre in Melbourne’s north.
Although a full ban will not come into force until September 1, when long knives will be classified as a prohibited weapon under Victorian law, Premier Jacinta Allan announced it will become a criminal offence for retailers to sell them from 12pm on Wednesday.
Premier Jacinta Allan on Monday, with Consumer Affairs Minister Nick Staikos (left) and Police Minister Anthony Carbines.Credit: Wayne Taylor
The decision follows a telephone hook-up between the premier and her senior ministers on Sunday after rival youth gangs armed with machetes rampaged through the Northland Shopping Centre in front of frightened shoppers.
Two months ago, the government rejected the idea of using consumer law to stop retail giant Anaconda and smaller, online sellers from stocking machetes, which are broadly defined as an edged weapon with a blade longer than 20 centimetres.
Under the Competition and Consumer Act, state ministers can unilaterally ban for up to 90 days goods which can cause injury. Any bans beyond that, including permanent ones, require federal government intervention.
Two sources familiar with the Victorian government’s considerations, but unable to discuss them publicly, said a retail ban was talked about in March shortly before the government announced its planned machete prohibition, changes to bail laws and other “tough on crime” measures.
The proposal was shelved amid government concerns a temporary ban would lapse before the prohibition came into effect and potentially, leave it reliant on a freshly elected Dutton government for a political fix.
Allan, speaking on Monday, condemned the Northland brawl and defended her decision not to use existing consumer laws earlier to ban the sale of machetes.
“No one, whether you are a family, whether you are a shopper, a retail worker or indeed a first responder member of Victoria Police who rushed in to protect us all, no one should have that experience,” she said. “It is appalling behaviour. It is disgraceful behaviour.
“We have moved swiftly and quickly, utilising the powers that we have as the state of Victoria. We have not hesitated to use these powers following the incidents over the weekend.”
Allan said September remained the earliest practicable time when machetes could be declared prohibited weapons and a moratorium safely established to manage their surrender at police stations.
The opposition, which has been campaigning for two years for a machete ban, seized upon the delay.
“Jacinta Allan is coming out saying that they are going to ban the sale of machetes in the next 40 hours at the stroke of the pen,” Opposition Leader Brad Battin said. “We ask why couldn’t you have done that in the past?
“The saddest thing about this policy is it’s something we tried to introduce in 2023, and the government refused it.”
As recently as last week, Allan was sticking to the September ban timeline.
“We announced based on that advice from Victoria Police how the machete ban could be brought about as quickly as possible but as safely as possible,” she said on 3AW on May 21.
Allan said there needed to be a mechanism in place to dispose of machetes and Victoria’s approach was being done a year faster than a similar ban in England and Wales.
The ban on machete sales, which carries penalties of more than $200,000 in fines and potential jail for retailers who breach the prohibition, was welcomed by Victoria Police, the Police Association of Victoria, the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI), the union for retail workers and the Shopping Centre Council of Australia, which represents the owners of Northland.
VECCI chief executive Paul Guerra described the Northland brawl, and a separate confrontation between police and a man armed with a machete in South Melbourne which culminated in a fatal shooting by police, as terrifying incidents.
“The business community and the broader public have been calling for action, and we need more swift and decisive leadership to combat the violence we are seeing,” he said.
Michael Donovan, the Victorian secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association said all knives and bladed items for sale should be kept in locked cabinets. Police Deputy Commissioner David Clayton said there was no place for machetes in Victoria.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines said some retailers had already removed machetes from their shelves and were working with government to support the prohibition when it comes into force.
Victoria is the first jurisdiction in Australia to ban the sale of machetes. In March this year, the Victorian parliament introduced legislation which adds machetes to a list of weapons proscribed under state law. Farmers and other people who use them for legitimate purposes can apply for an exemption.
The new laws mean anyone caught in possession of a machete without an exemption faces up to two years’ jail. A moratorium will operate so that anyone who wants to hand in a machete can bring them to a police station without risk of arrest.
Allan said the September 1 start date for the laws was based on Victoria Police advice. Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said the prohibition should come into force with immediate effect.
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