
Cost of crime crackdown criticised as Victoria prepares for influx of prisoners with huge jail spend
The cost of Victoria's crime crackdown is beginning to emerge, as the financially strained state government faces criticism over a $727m plan to expand prison capacity as the number of people on remand rises.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, visited the state's new Western Plains Correctional Centre on Tuesday to announce next week's state budget would include funding to open nearly 1,000 new adult prison beds and 88 youth justice beds, along with hundreds of new corrections staff.
Allan told reporters the increased capacity was needed following changes to the state's bail laws, which came into effect in March.
'Our tough new bail laws, they are working. We are seeing an increase on the number of alleged offenders on remand,' she said.
'We're backing that with more beds and more corrections staff.'
Government data for April shows a 22% rise in adults on remand and a 71% increase in young people compared with the same time last year.
Nerita Waight, chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (Vals), said it was 'flawed, deeply troubling and misguided' to 'celebrate' growing remand numbers.
'This does not equate to community safety and only causes further distress, trauma and cycles of harm,' she said.
Waight said Vals' dedicated youth legal practice, Balit Ngulu, has seen a 300% increase in young people held on remand since June last year. For Vals' adult clients, there has been a 216% increase.
'In an already tight fiscal environment, today's announcement shows that premier Allan's invested in expanding prisons and not programmatic solutions that would create a safer Victoria for all of us, not just some of us,' she said.
Jesuit Social Services' chief executive Julie Edwards said the money was being spent at the 'wrong end of the system' and 'won't do anything' to prevent crime.
'We're really concerned by the news that the Victorian government is committing well over half a billion dollars of new funding to a costly, ineffective prison system which is at odds with all of the evidence about how to create stronger, more cohesive communities with less crime and fewer victims,' Edwards said.
Maggie Munn, first nations director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the announcement was 'shameful' and urged more investment in housing, health and legal services instead.
Sarah Toohey from the Community Housing Industry Association Victoria said $727m would build more than 1,400 community housing properties for those in need, including people released from prison into homelessness, of which 40% are likely to reoffend.
'Investing in long term housing … is both crime prevention and a cost saving to government in prison spending,' Toohey said.
Asked if more funding for crime prevention would be in the budget, Allan said: 'We will have much more to say between now and next Tuesday.'
The $727m figure also matches the amount announced on Monday to 'switch on' the Metro Tunnel project and introduce high-frequency services on the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.
Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, said the government had got their priorities 'all wrong' in the upcoming budget.
The $1bn Western Plains Correctional Centre, which has sat empty since it was completed in 2023, will open in July. It will replace the ageing Port Phillip prison, which is scheduled to close by the end of the year, and once fully operational will house up to 1,300 inmates.
Opposition police spokesperson David Southwick said the 1,000 new beds announced by the government only offset those being closed at Port Phillip. Other beds have also been closed at other prisons due to mould infestations, he added.
'They're throwing taxpayer money at the mess without a real plan to fix it,' he said.
The government also introduced new legislation on Tuesday to mandate additional jail time for prisoners who assault corrections staff.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
35 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Wayne Carey opens up about his 'street fight' drama as he and Sam Newman blame 'activists' for barring them from footy event
AFL legend Wayne Carey has opened up about his recent scuffle outside a popular Melbourne pub, as he and Sam Newman lashed out after being blocked from speaking at a fundraising event. Carey, 54, was embroiled in a heated exchange outside the Albert Park Hotel on the night of June 5. The Kangaroos great and an unidentified man appeared to engage in a shouting match with a third man wearing a backpack. Carey was later seen grabbing the backpack-wearing man by the sleeve of his shirt while the other man implored Carey to 'relax'. Carey later said he had been harassed by the man with whom he became entangled. 'Unfortunately, there are antagonists who target you based on your experiences as a has-been footballer,' he said. 'This individual is a serial harasser - and he chose to repeat his behaviour through vile and obscene slurs, again, last night.' On Wednesday, Carey addressed the issue on the 'You Cannot Be Serious' podcast, explaining that the the man involved had since reached out to him. 'I have received an apology,' said Carey. 'This has happened a couple of times, the same person, the same person has since apologised to not only myself, but my partner Jess and other people that he involved that night.' The AFL icon didn't want to go into too much detail about the person involved, but suggested that he was seeking help. 'I'm not going to be a hypocrite and hang him out to dry, what I am going to say is he's put the first step forward, he's sent a message to myself and Jess apologising... and said he's got some stuff to deal with. 'And I appreciate more than ever someone who owns what has happened.' Carey also expressed his frustration at how the incident was reported, saying that it wasn't a 'late-night fracas' as some media reported. The incident comes after Carey and fellow footy great Sam Newman had their invitations to speak at a fundraising event rescinded. The pair were asked to speak at the Barwon Heads Football and Netball Club charity event on June 21 at the Barwon Heads Hotel. However, they were told not to show up, according to The Herald Sun. It is understood that committee members had not been happy with the appearance of the 'You Cannot Be Serious' podcast hosts attending the event. Newman addressed the issue on his podcast saying that he and Carey 'don't give a f**k' about the decision. 'It's the weak, feckless, insipid people who run those clubs who are controlled by some activists,' said Newman. Carey said he was happy with the decision because he had agreed to appear as a favour and he can now spend his time elsewhere. Elsewhere in the podcast, Newman brought up recent comments where he referred to the AFLW as a 'lesbian league', as reported by Daily Mail Australia. 'The Daily Mail, they're so good to us,' said Newman. 'They reprinted the entire conversation we had about the women's football league. 'And I said - throwaway line - "the lesbian league", and they said "disgraceful comment". Newman questioned why it was considered disgraceful, claiming it's just a fact that a lot of lesbians played footy.


BBC News
43 minutes ago
- BBC News
Aukus: US to review submarine pact as part of 'America First' agenda
The US has launched a review of its multi-billion dollar submarine deal with the UK and Australia, saying the security pact must fit its "America First" the trilateral pact, widely seen as a response to the growing power of China, Australia is to get its first nuclear-powered subs from the US, before the allies create a new fleet by sharing cutting-edge Australia and the UK - which did its own review last year - have sought to play down news of the US probe, saying it is natural for a new administration to move comes as Australia faces pressure from the White House to lift its military spending, from 2% to 3.5% of GDP, a push so far resisted by Canberra. The agreement - worth £176bn ($239bn; A$368bn) - was signed in 2021, when all three countries involved had different leaders."The department is reviewing Aukus as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with the President's America First agenda," a US defence official told the BBC."As [US Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has made clear, this means ensuring the highest readiness of our servicemembers, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defense, and that the defense industrial base is meeting our needs."The review will be headed up Elbridge Colby, who has previously been critical of Aukus, in a speech last year questioning why the US would give away "this crown jewel asset when we most need it".Defence Minister Richard Marles, speaking to local Australian media on Thursday morning local time, said he was optimistic the deal would continue. "I'm very confident this is going to happen," he told ABC Radio Melbourne."You just need to look at the map to understand that Australia absolutely needs to have a long-range submarine capability."Some in Australia have been lobbying for the country to develop a more independent defence strategy, but Marles said it was important to "stick to a plan" - a reference to the previous government's controversial cancellation of a submarine deal with France in favour of Australian government spokesperson told the BBC it was "natural" that the new administration would "examine" the agreement, adding the UK had also recently finished a review of the security pact between the long-standing allies. There is "clear and consistent" support for the deal across the "full political spectrum" in the US, they said, adding Australia looked forward to "continuing our close cooperation with the Trump Administration on this historic project".A UK defence spokesperson told the BBC it was "understandable" for a new administration to look at the deal, "just as the UK did last year". Aukus is a "landmark security and defence partnership with two of our closest allies", the spokesperson said, and "one of the most strategically important partnerships in decades, supporting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic".


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Father of NRL stars Nat and Egan Butcher relives the moment he flattened an armed man who was on the run after escaping jail
The fearless father of NRL stars Nat and Egan Butcher has recalled the moment he used a shoulder charge in a bid to detain a man on the run from Sydney's Long Bay Jail. Blake Butcher was in Malabar chatting with a relative on August 13, 2023, when he crossed paths with Jason Melbon, who was armed with a knife. Melbon - who only had 18 months left to serve of a nine-year prison sentence at the time - had earlier jumped the Long Bay fence before going on a rampage in Sydney's east. Despite breaking his ankle once fleeing the correctional facility, Melbon, 43, broke into numerous homes starting at Little Bay, stole a car and tied up another terrified mother in her house. He then ran into Butcher on the street, who didn't hesitate to use the move that's now banned in the NRL. 'I knocked him to the ground,' Butcher - a former first grader player himself with the Rabbitohs - told News Corp. '(He) looked straight at me. 'He (then) ran off around the corner and broke into another person's house. 'We followed him in my car... I spotted him taking off in another car. I got the number plate and we called the police. 'He was caught shortly after.' Melbon, 43, is due to appear in court on June 20 after pleading guilty to a number of offences, including attempting to escape from lawful custody at Sydney's Downing Centre Court on May 22. The charges include two counts of aggravated break and enter and committing a serious indictable offence, taking and driving a conveyance without the owner's consent and two counts of taking and detaining a person with intent to obtain advantage. Melbon was due for parole on December 11 last year - but is now facing a longer stint behind bars. Nat Butcher make his NRL debut with the Roosters in 2016, and won a premiership three years later. Younger brother Egan has been on the books of the Tricolours since 2021.