Victorian government bans machetes and introduces tougher bail laws

A ban on machetes and tougher bail laws are among sweeping changes set to be introduced by the Victorian government.

Transcript

00:00This crime crackdown follows really rising community anger about the number of repeat

00:07offenders, especially young offenders, who are being released on bail despite allegedly

00:12committing serious crimes like carjackings, home invasions and serious weapons offences.

00:19And the ABC understands that Premier Jacinta Allen will release details of a ban on machetes

00:25today, that's despite the government voting down a Liberal Party amendment to ban machetes

00:31just a couple of weeks ago.

00:33In terms of the tougher bail rules, it will now be much harder for offenders to be released

00:39on bail, with community safety now the paramount consideration in bail applications, and custody

00:46no longer seen as a last resort for young offenders.

00:51There's also going to be a proposed second strike rule, which is when a person is charged

00:55with a second, indictable or serious offence, they're going to have to provide compelling

01:00evidence as to why they should be released on bail, similar to cases of manslaughter,

01:07and there will also have to be a very high likelihood that they won't re-offend.

01:12Now there has been a lot of anger, even in Jacinta Allen's own electorate in the central

01:18city of Bendigo, we saw people marching out on the streets to her electorate office after

01:25a spate of bashings, and there has also been word that there has been a bit of internal

01:30disagreement about just how far to push these tougher bail laws, with some saying that this

01:37is simply a knee-jerk reaction that in the long run is not going to solve the problem

01:42of crime.