On the first anniversary of the Allan government's machete ban, a teenager was stabbed at Highpoint Shopping Centre. Four young Victorians are dead. Forty-plus attacks. Zero accountability. Family First's Jane Foreman says enough is enough.
One year ago, Premier Jacinta Allan promised her machete ban would take knives off the streets and make Victorian families safe. Today, on that very anniversary, a teenager was stabbed in a brawl at Highpoint Shopping Centre. Four young Victorians are dead, more than forty public knife attacks have terrorised shopping centres, train stations and schools, and $13 million has been spent on collection bins. The ban has not worked — and families are paying for it.
"This government cares more about looking tough than being tough. They put up machete bins and called it a solution. Meanwhile four Victorians are dead and families are afraid to go shopping. This is a disgrace, and it falls squarely on Jacinta Allan's watch."
The Allan government's response has been defined by symbolic gestures over substance. Investigators on the ground describe a cohort of young offenders committing pack attacks in public, in daylight, who "don't understand consequences." Family First believes no government ban will fix what is fundamentally a failure to support strong families — because intact, stable families are the proven foundation of crime prevention.
Family First will:
- Deliver real sentencing consequences — end the revolving-door justice that lets violent repeat offenders walk free.
- Restore and expand police powers with targeted operations at transport hubs and shopping precincts where families gather.
- Enforce strict bail laws that keep dangerous offenders off our streets — not token reforms with loopholes big enough to drive a crime wave through.
- Invest in family stability — because repairing family breakdown must be part of every serious youth crime prevention strategy.
"When a teenager gets stabbed at a shopping centre on the first anniversary of a law designed to stop exactly that — that is a verdict on this government. Families deserve leaders who will actually fix this, not manage the headlines around it."
"Tougher sentences. Real police powers. Stronger families. That is how you stop youth violence — not with a bin and a press conference. Family First has the will to do what the major parties won't."
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