THE Victorian Government is set to introduce ‘the toughest bail laws in Australia to prevent reoffending and keep Victorians safe’, however not everyone is impressed by the announcement.
Premier Jacinta Allan, Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny and Police Minister Anthony Carbines today announced new Tough Bail Laws last week that will remove the principle of remand as a ‘last resort’, introduce a new bail test targeting repeat offenders and introduce new bail offences, including a second-strike rule for offenders.
The Government will start this work immediately by introducing the first Tough Bail Bill into Parliament next Tuesday.
In addition, the Government will also ban machetes to crack down on knife crime.
Machetes will become prohibited weapons, with exemptions to be available for legitimate use.
The MPs acknowledged the existing system was not tough enough and did not reflect the expectations of victims or the public.
The Government will make sweeping changes – not to punish people who have not yet had their day in court, but to reduce the risk of someone on bail reoffending in the community.
Reoffending remains a serious problem.
Males in their mid-to-late teens – both adults and youths – make up the most alleged aggravated burglary offenders by far, with 64% under the age of 20. The Tough Bail Laws again squarely target the risks of these younger serious offenders.
A person accused of an indictable offence faces ‘tests’ to be granted bail.
The tests get tougher as the offences get worse.
A tough test applies for serious offences: someone accused of a Schedule 2 offence like manslaughter must show ‘compelling reasons’ to justify bail.
Someone accused of a Schedule 1 offence like murder or aggravated carjacking must prove even tougher ‘exceptional circumstances’.
The Tough Bail Laws will elevate key offences into harsher bail tests and create a new test to target repeat offenders of the worst crimes.
Shadow Attorney General, Michael O’Brien, however, is not so taken with the announcement.
He said the premier’s admission of failure on bail laws is cold comfort to the victims of crime who have suffered because of Labor’s reckless weakening of the justice system.
Mr O’Brien said Labor had been dragged “kicking and screaming” into the new bail laws announcement, not out of conviction, but because polling told them they had no choice.
“The Premier may have apologised for her poor judgment on bail laws, but that’s no comfort to the families of crime victims who suffered because this government got it so badly wrong,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The reality is, Labor’s instinct is always to weaken bail laws, not strengthen them.
“They have been forced into this position by public outrage, not by any real belief in protecting Victorians.”
“Despite the announcement, Labor still refuses to provide details or release the legislation, leaving key questions unanswered.
“Where’s the detail? Where are the bills? If the government was serious about fixing the mess they created, they’d have legislation available today.
“We’ll scrutinise every line of these laws, because Victorians cannot trust Labor to get it right.
“The last time Labor changed bail laws, they made Victoria less safe – why should anybody trust them now?”
Shadow Police Minister, David Southwick said the premier had let the crime crisis spiral out of control and Victorians had no reason to believe she would suddenly fix it now.
“You cannot trust the people who created the problem to fix it,” Mr Southwick said.
“Jacinta Allan let the genie out of the bottle and now she expects Victorians to trust her to put it back in?
“It does not work that way.”
