Thursday 1 August 2024
Labor Government blocks bill to strengthen bail laws
Victorians will continue to suffer from weak bail laws after the Allan Labor Government blocked a Liberals and Nationals bill in State Parliament today.
With the youth crime crisis worsening following Labor’s weakening of bail laws in March this year, the Liberals and Nationals moved to introduce the Bail Amendment (Strengthening Conduct Conditions) Bill 2024.
The Bill would have made three urgent changes to Victoria’s bail laws:
- Requiring a court to consider the likelihood that an applicant would commit a serious offence if granted bail.
- Re-instating the law that made it an offence for a person on bail to breach a bail condition.
- Re-instating the law that made it an offence to commit a serious offence whilst on bail.
These measures would have made it harder for dangerous people to obtain bail in the first place, while making people granted bail more accountable for their conduct.
Shadow Attorney-General, Michael O’Brien, said: “While Victorians are paying the price for a youth crime crisis caused by Labor’s weak bail laws, Premier Jacinta Allan is now blocking Coalition efforts to fix Labor’s mess.
“Victorians want dangerous people off the streets. We want people who breach bail to be held accountable. Labor has no solutions to the crime crisis they created.
“The Allan Labor Government has made clear it will put politics and pandering ahead of protecting the community.
“Labor cannot manage money, cannot manage our justice system and Victorians are paying the price.”