The Nationals Member for Mildura, Jade Benham, has renewed calls for an urgent meeting with Police Minister Anthony Carbines in the wake of new statistics that show crime is spiraling out of control.
“The crime rate continues to rise, yet my repeated calls for adequate resourcing continue to fall on deaf ears,” Ms Benham said.
“My office continues to be inundated with calls from residents and businesses who are concerned for their safety because anti-social and criminal behaviour on streets and in retail centres is out of control.
“Business owners and shopping centre management have been left no option but to introduce lockdown procedures because violent incidents are now a daily occurrence.
“I am again urging the Minister to act on my meeting request and contact my office to arrange a time to visit Mildura and meet with community.”
More than 70 per cent of young Victorian offenders released from a youth justice facility are returning to the system within 12 months, once again highlighting the broken state of Victoria’s youth justice system under the Allan Government.
New data released by the Productivity Commission found:
- More than seven in every ten young offenders return to sentenced supervision within 12 months of leaving a youth justice facility, the highest rate of any state in the nation.
- A young person in detention based supervision in Victoria costs $5,900 per day – more than double the cost to support a young person in detention in New South Wales ($2,759 per day).
“Under Labor, vital crime prevention and justice programs to get young Victorians on the right path are being slashed and the vast majority of young offenders who leave the youth justice system end up reoffending and are back there within 12 months.
“Jacinta Allan and her government need to take a leadership position to address youth crime and to ensure we protect community safety.”
