TRANSCRIPT:
I have got some time, so I will start again. I rise today to speak on the Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Bill 2024. This bill seeks to implement a number of recommendations made in 2021 by the Legislative Assembly’s Legal and Social Issues Committee, including lowering the threshold for civil anti-vilification protections, expanding protections, reviewing maximum penalties and moving criminal provisions from the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 into the Crimes Act 1958. Under this proposed legislation these recommendations will be applied by strengthening and reforming anti-vilification law. This means a series of changes to existing legislation, as we have heard today, including amending the Crimes Act 1958 to include serious vilification offences, amending the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 to include civil anti-vilification protections, amending the Bail Act 1977, repealing the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 and making consequential amendments to other relevant acts.
At present the only two attributes protected from vilification under the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act are race and religion. This bill expands that list to include disability, personal association, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation. While these characteristics are already protected under the Equal Opportunity Act to prevent discrimination, this bill seeks to expand protections even further to cover both criminal and civil offences. While I support ensuring more people are protected from vilification, I have concerns about how this bill will be applied, particularly regarding the way convictions can now be reached.
There are also some broader concerns about crime and safety in our communities that this government has failed to address. Unfortunately, reform of our criminal justice system is needed on so many levels, especially with crime on the rise across Victoria. While Melbourne-based crime has dominated the headlines, regional areas like ours are feeling the impact, and it must be addressed as a matter of priority. One way to do this is by properly supporting our police. Many regional Victorians feel unsafe due to this government’s continued under-resourcing of Victoria Police, which has resulted in more than 1000 police vacancies, 900 officers off duty for illness and injury and, concerningly, the closure of 43 police stations. In towns like Benalla, Seymour and Kilmore residents are telling me they no longer feel safe in their own homes. They no longer feel safe in our community. Businesses and families are taking matters into their own hands, investing thousands in CCTV because they live in fear every single day.
I met with officers at the Benalla police station when they temporarily walked off their posts at the end of last year. They were at their breaking point, frustrated by ongoing pay disputes and the government’s failure to provide them with the resources needed to keep our communities safe. Officers were writing messages on their vehicles and displaying banners during their stop-work action, making it clear they are not receiving enough support from this government.
The impact of this under-resourcing is evident across my electorate. Just recently, a family in Violet Town had their home broken into twice in the same month, and police were so stretched that it took hours to respond. Businesses in Broadford and Euroa have been broken into, and it took police several days to take fingerprints, because they were occupied with critical incidents.
A farmer near Colbinabbin told me he had had equipment stolen multiple times, and vehicles, and he felt like reporting it was pointless because nothing ever came of it. We now see vehicles stolen on nearly a daily basis throughout the region, and you can see this across all of our community pages. We have had to take crime into our own hands because we are so under-resourced. In Seymour, local businesses have been targeted by repeat offenders who seem to face no real consequences for their actions.
I have too many stories from the community, of people living in fear, and this is backed up by the Crime Statistics Agency data, which paints a pretty dire picture for 2024. In the Mitchell shire, total criminal incidents have spiked by nearly 32 per cent, with 851 more incidents than the previous year. Crimes in Seymour, Kilmore and Broadford have surged. Rates in Benalla have spiked nearly 12 per cent in total criminal incidents and 23 per cent in recorded offences. Strathbogie has suffered a staggering 34 per cent increase in criminal incidents, with spikes in Euroa, Nagambie, Avenel and Violet Town. Tragically, family violence incidents have spiked 28 per cent in Greater Shepparton and 24 per cent in Mitchell shire. Family violence incidents are up 18 per cent in Strathbogie.
These are not numbers, these are real people – our neighbours, our family. We all feel unsafe in our own homes and our businesses. Instead of repeatedly denying the crime problem in Victoria, this government should be doing more to protect our communities and ensure our police are properly resourced. Undervalued, overworked and always there – that is what our officers are saying. But crime is up, and police resourcing is down. It simply is not working, and it is leaving our communities vulnerable.
The Allan government must step up and take real action to protect Victorians beyond the provisions in this bill. As it stands, there is too much uncertainty surrounding this legislation. There are highly problematic implications within both the criminal and civil protections listed in the bill, including the ambiguity of new political defences and subjective views on what qualifies as vilification. One of the biggest questions is the introduction of a ‘genuine political purpose’ defence. This does not come from the original recommendation made by the Legal and Social Issues Committee or from community stakeholders who were consulted. As my colleague the member for Malvern put it, no-one knows where this came from, and no-one knows who wants it.
A reasoned amendment has been proposed to reintroduce move-on powers for our police and to conduct further consultation with faith groups to help clarify some of the ambiguity in the bill. Without these amendments, I cannot support this bill in its current form.