'Imagine if Dan Andrews listened to me': Rebecca Judd slams the former Victoria premier as state's crime rate surges

Sky News AU

11 hours ago

Rebecca Judd has hit out at the Victorian government and Daniel Andrews after fresh statistics showed crime rates in the state hit a record high.
The Victoria Police on Thursday reported 627,268 criminal offences were recorded in the state over the last 12 months to March.
This represents a 91,692-offence increase in the state or 15.2 percent when population growth is considered.
'Police recorded the most arrests since electronic records began in 1993, and most likely, in Victoria Police's 172-year history,' Victoria Police said in a statement.
The wife of retired AFL legend Chris Judd, 42, took to Instagram on Thursday to reshare a post from the state parliament's local Brighton MP, Liberal James Newbury addressing the "rampant violent behaviour".
Mr Newbury said the crime increase shows the state's Allan Labor government has been "so weak".
Judd echoed his sentiment and claimed the former premier of Victoria failed to act when she said she felt unsafe in the affluent Melbourne suburb of Brighton in 2022.
"Imagine if Dan Andrews had listened to me when I sounded this alarm a few years back," the AFL WAG wrote.
Judd speculated since she issued her warning, hundreds or possibly thousands of Victorians, not just Brighton residents, have experienced "life-long trauma" due to becoming victims of violent home invasions.
"Sadly, innocent lives have also been lost. I will continue to raise these issues until people start to feel safe in their communities again," she said.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines addressed the crime wave on Thursday and said while the data was "unacceptable", he had no regrets about waiting more than a year to introduce new bail laws.
Judd responded to his comments as she continued to unleash on the government, saying: "More than a year to wait is unacceptable."
"Victorians, more than anyone, know just how quickly this government can introduce new laws when they want to," she said.
Judd has been one of the most outspoken public figures calling for tougher bail laws for repeat offenders and previously praised Premier Jacinta Allan's overhaul, but warned it had come "too late for so many".
She was also a vocal opponent of Melbourne's extended lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic under the former Andrews government.
Mr Andrews in 2022 shut down her concerns about feeling unsafe in her Brighton mansion, saying the "data would tell a different story".
"I'm not interested in having an argument with Ms Judd," he said.
"I'm also obliged to point out though, I think there are more than 70 additional police in the Bayside area.
"And the most recent crime statistics released by an independent agency would not support those sweeping assessments about patterns of crime."
At the time, crime was on the rise in the state with reports of multiple home invasions.
The fresh surge in incidents comes as multiple disturbances occurred at Melbourne's Northland Shopping Centre in a matter of days.
Shoppers at the centre were evacuated on Thursday following reports of a fire and smoke billowing from Myer.
The incident comes just hours after police arrested a 27-year-old man in relation to an allegedly stolen Toyota Land Cruiser smashing through the centre on Wednesday, sparking mass panic and chaos amongst shoppers.
Just three weeks ago panic spread through the same centre as a fight broke out between machete-wielding teens.
Victoria Police noted the impact of the first tranche of changes to bail laws, which came into effect in March, was not evident in the new crime data.
The Allan government proposed the new laws, including a ban on machetes, in response to an alarming spike in crime in the state and claimed that the changes were the toughest of their kind in Australia.
The stipulation that magistrates no longer need to consider remand as a last resort for children was widely seen as the pillar of the new laws.
The reforms also made committing an indictable offence while on bail and breaching bail conditions punishable by up to three months in jail.
Serious offences such as aggravated burglary, home invasion, carjacking and armed robbery were also elevated to the strictest bail criteria, making bail less likely even for a first charge.