Peter Dutton warns Victoria to sort out Africa gangs issue

Peter Dutton has warned Daniel Andrews to sort out the African gangs issue in Victoria or “someone is going to be killed”.

Police, some in riot gear, gathered near Lonzo Park in Taylors Hill. Picture: Jason Edwards.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has warned Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to sort out the African gangs issue in his state or “someone is going to be killed”, after dozens of youths of African appearance last night hurled rocks at police cars in Melbourne’s west.

Residents said they feared for the safety of their children, as police ordered people in ­Bronte Way, Taylors Hill to lock their doors as they tried to gain control of a group that had gathered at about 7pm in a nearby park.

Projectiles, believed to be rocks, were hurled at officers and a police car was damaged before heavily armed specialist officers were called in.

Taxi drivers were warned on their in-car message boards to avoid the area “due to a riot”.

No arrests had been made in the two hours after the violence broke out but police said they had “dispersed” the crowd.

Mr Dutton blamed Mr Andrews for the unrest.

“I don’t know what sort of social experiment Daniel Andrews is trying to conduct in Victoria, but it is failing,” he told Sydney radio 2GB.

“They don’t even want to accept that they’ve got gangs.

“We’ve been blamed for causing a spike in the number of complaints to the (Human Rights) Commissioner in Victoria, some do-gooder down there, because we’ve made reference to African gangs, that somehow that’s contributing.

“It’s complete garbage, and if you call it out, this is our country, everybody, regardless of your skin colour, your religion, you abide by the one law.

“It’s against the law to start hurling rocks at police cars. It’s against the law to start breaking into people’s houses or stealing their cars, and you should front the courts, and the problem in Victoria, why we’re seeing a problem there and not in Sydney or in Queensland or in WA, the problem is in Victoria because the bail laws mean that when the police throw these people before the courts, they’re back out before the police can get out the front door of the watch house.”

Mr Dutton said the situation was unacceptable.

“Melbourne’s one of our great cities, and in 2018 having people riot like this, as you say, like a scene from some other part of the world, is unacceptable, and Daniel Andrews as I say won’t even accept that there’s a problem, that these gangs exist, which is just not credible.

“He needs to I think come out and start sorting this out, because at the moment people are getting hurt and somebody is going to be killed.

“We’ve predicted that before. Tragically that’s how it will elevate, and it needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later.”

Mr Dutton said there would be pressure on Mr Andrews to acknowledge and address the gang problem in the lead-up to the November state election.

“What benefit is there in denying that these gangs exist?” he said.

“I mean these people are locking themselves into their homes on the advice of police. We’re not making that up.

“This is actually happening. The footage is there, and yet Daniel Andrews is living in some sort of parallel universe.”

Mr Dutton also hit out at Mr Andrews amid news that Andrew Lee, the coward-puncher who killed Melbourne teen Patrick Cronin in 2016, is giving talks to schoolchildren who visit his prison as part of an education program, less than 12 months into the eight year jail term he’s appealing.

“Again, what sort of message does it send?” Mr Dutton said.

“You can imagine the parents, the grief that they’re living through in the first instance, and what they’re now made to relive.

“It’s offensive to victims of crime, it’s offensive to their families, and frankly it’s offensive to any decent Australian who hears that story, and Daniel Andrews is the one that’s created this mess, the person who has appointed these people, and he’s the one that needs to be accountable for it.”