I’ve covered courts and crime in Victoria for more than eight years. I can’t remember the streets feeling so unsafe as the number of unsolved, brutal crimes escalate.
Already this year we have had wild machete brawls at multiple Melbourne shopping centres, weekly murders and home invasions, bashings, carjackings, drug-crazed high-speed drivers – the list goes on.
This new wave of brazen violence sweeping Melbourne has shocked me to the core.
We may not be in the dystopian world of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 film RoboCop, where violent criminals rule the streets, just yet.
But if this crime wave continues unabated, we may well end up there. And what is Premier Jacinta Allan doing about it?
Don’t laugh, because I’m not making this up, but the Allan Government came up with one of the dumbest ideas ever conceived in politics by deciding to ban machetes.
The ‘logic’ goes like this: machetes appear to be the weapon of choice of these violent offenders… so banning them should sort out the problem. Sure, OK.
But I said it was ‘almost’ the dumbest idea because just weeks later, the Allan Government announced it would spend $13million on 40 ‘machete bins’ which will be placed outside police stations.
Machetes have now been banned after a spate of alleged violent incidents
Victoria Police officers walk past a $325,000 machete bin
That’s $325,000 per bin. You could build a house for less than that.
The idea is for the good people who own machetes to dump their banned weapons in these bins before the amnesty ends on September 1.
If this was a plotline pitched on Yes Minister or Veep it would be dismissed as too fanciful.
I mean, what is the Allan Government thinking?
Do they actually believe a savage thug, fresh from committing a horror home invasion, will decide, out of the blue, to approach a cop shop and surrender their weapon?
Are we living in a topsy-turvy world? This is ridiculous.
The only person who will surrender a machete – if anyone actually does – won’t be a violent criminal.
Plus, criminals have available to them several other weapons which can be used to bash, maim and kill, including knives which are available just about anywhere.
So why don’t we just ban cricket bats too?
Liberal opposition leader Brad Battin (front) said crime in the state is out of control
On Tuesday morning, a 39-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death outside a service station in Dandenong.
Investigators have not said what type of weapon was used as they investigate the alleged murder and so far no-one has been arrested.
State Opposition Leader Brad Battin arrived at the scene after hearing about the incident on the radio as he drove to work from his Berwick home.
Mr Battin told the press at the scene that crime in Victoria was out of control.
He’s not wrong, but instead, government frontbencher Colin Brooks focused on criticising Mr Battin for speaking at the scene.
If I was in government I’d spend less time sooking about my rivals and more time trying to solve Victoria’s crime crisis.
Victoria’s overworked and under-resourced police (maybe $13million in machete bin money could’ve gone to hiring more cops) must be banging their heads against a wall.
Police investigate the alleged Kew East home invasion this week
Victoria may not be in the dystopian world of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 film RoboCop (pictured) where the violent criminals rule the streets just yet, but we may well end up there
I spoke to a frontline copper and he said his hands are tied – he’s frustrated that he can’t do more to stop youth violence, and equally frustrated when they get bail the next day.
Premier Allan tightened bail laws which was a step in the right direction but nowhere near what is required to get on top of this issue.
I’m not a hardcore conservative who believes we should just ‘lock ’em up and throw away the key’ but more needs to be done to deter these offenders.
A person’s age and prospects of rehabilitation are important considerations, but they shouldn’t override the community’s right to feel safe.
I understand the argument that a young person has time to rehabilitate and extended periods in custody won’t help that goal, but in my opinion, if a teenager breaks into someone’s home and bashes and stabs an innocent person then they are beyond rehabilitation.
They should go to jail for a very long time.
If they lowered the age of jail time for serious indictable offences like aggravated home invasion to 16 and slapped on a mandatory 10-year jail term for such offences, the violent crime rate would drop overnight.
Victorians just want the Allan Government to do its job and keep the community safe, writes Paul Shapiro
If things don’t change, expect to see vigilante retaliation as fed up law-abiding locals fight back.
Already a group of good Samaritans thwarted an attempted carjacking in Richmond on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a bloke rang up 3AW’s Tom Elliott and claimed he was the victim of an attempted home invasion.
The man said he was advised by a triple-0 operator that he should not attempt to fight back.
Elliott was aghast and suggested people should have the right to defend their own homes and family.
Another bloke rang up and said he keeps a gun in a locker in his house and wouldn’t hesitate to use a firearm if he had to.
I think it will only be a matter of time before a home invasion gang bursts through the wrong door and one, some or all get blown away by a heavily-armed occupant.
The defender will go to jail for protecting his family but he’ll be a hero on the streets.
But we don’t want vigilantes. We just want the Allan Government to do its job and keep us safe.