Latest news with #NorthlandShoppingCentre
ABC News
a day ago
- Business
- ABC News
Supporting young retail workers
In the wake of the Northland Shopping centre incident, in this edition of The Conversation Hour we look at what training and support is available to young retail workers. Also in this edition, we speak to the Chair of Lifeline about coping strategies and we ask a criminologist if police hubs in centres would help curb crime and make the public feel safer. Plus, it's Spinal Health Week, so what's the key to keeping your spine pain free? If you, or anyone you know needs help: Lifeline 131 114 Guests: Yolanda Robson, director, The Young Workers Centre Fluer Brown, Chief Industry Affairs Officer, Australian Retail Association Dr Xanthé Mallett, criminologist, CQUniversity Professor Steve Moylan, chair of Lifeline Australia Suzanne Snodgrass, Associate Professor, Physiotherapy, University of Newcastle
ABC News
6 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Seven males arrested and charged over alleged planned gang fight at Northland shopping centre in Melbourne
Police have arrested and charged a total of seven people involved in an allegedly planned gang fight with machetes at Northland Shopping Centre in Melbourne's north on Sunday. Detectives say they initially believed eight people were involved in the incident that broke out just after 2:30pm on Sunday at the Preston centre's food court, but have since clarified that seven people were involved. "Police will allege this was a planned fight between two rival youth gangs, with thankfully no innocent bystanders hurt," a police statement said. "Those arrested were all known gang members and known to police." Frightened shoppers fled Northland during the incident amid instructions to evacuate. Security camera footage indicates the incident lasted for approximately 2 minutes, with around 40 local police and specialist units, including the Public Order Response Team and Critical Incident Response Team arriving within minutes, police said. Since the incident, the state government has fast-tracked a ban on the sale of machetes, which takes effect from midday on Wednesday. Two teenage males — aged 15 and 16 — who police allege to be the primary offenders, were arrested at the scene. The pair have been charged with affray, intentionally causing injury, possessing a controlled weapon and using a controlled weapon. They are in custody and have faced a children's court. Two men — an 18-year-old from Bundoora and a 20-year-old from Thornbury — were arrested on Tuesday and will both face Heidleberg Magistrates' Court on July 15 charged with affray and intentionally causing injury. An 18-year-old Thornhill Park man was arrested on Tuesday night, charged with affray and weapons offences and is scheduled to face Heidelberg Magistrates' Court today. Two other young males were arrested on Wednesday morning: an 18-year-old from Derrimut charged with affray and intentionally causing injury, and a 21-year-old from Kew who was treated in hospital for non-life-threatening head injuries from the incident. The Kew man was charged with affray, intentionally causing injury and committing an indictable offence while on bail. Police said officers would be patrolling the Northland shopping centre area over the coming days and weekends and that local police would work with the centre's management and retail staff to reassure them. "Victoria Police continues to relentlessly pursue, disrupt and dismantle the state's worst youth gangs as part of Operation Alliance," police said. Police say in the past year, Operation Alliance has led to the arrest of 473 youth gang members a combined 1,731 times, with more than 4,400 charges laid in relation to these matters.
ABC News
6 days ago
- General
- ABC News
How Victoria's machete sale ban will be enforced
From today, Victorians won't be able to buy machetes from a shop after knife-wielding youth gangs brawled at a shopping centre in Melbourne's north. Police allege seven males, some armed with machetes, brawled at Northland Shopping Centre on Sunday. Six have been charged with offences including affray and intentionally causing injury. Here's what we know about the ban. The sales ban starts today, Wednesday, May 28, at midday. It's a total ban on selling machetes. The state government says a machete is broadly described as a "cutting edge knife" with a blade longer than 20 centimetres. Kitchen knives are not part of this definition. The government has not provided more detail. In March, the state government announced a raft of measures to tackle youth and violent crime in Victoria, including bail reform and a complete ban on owning machetes. It says these laws are some of the toughest in the country, with the machete ban starting in September. At the time, the government responded to criticism it was not moving fast enough by saying it needed time to implement the full ban — a position also supported by Victoria Police. But following the brawl between gangs at Northland Shopping Centre on Sunday — where police say at least three machetes were used — the government brought the sales ban forward. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says the aim is to "choke" the supply of machetes as much as possible before the complete ban comes into place. Victorian retailers will not be allowed to sell machetes, or store machetes with an intent to sell them. The government says retailers should hold onto their stock in a safe place before the full machete ban starts in September. This is when disposal, amnesty and exemption schemes will begin. Even if you use a machete for work, you will not be able to purchase one from a Victorian retailer. This is because the state government is using national consumer law to enforce this snap ban, which doesn't allow exemptions. The government's own ban on machetes will start on September 1, which is when Victorians will have to apply for an exemption to buy these knives. An example of an exemption is if a Victorian needs to use it in agriculture work, but the government has not released more detail. The ban does not cover overseas or interstate retailers — only those that sell in Victoria. But a youth support organisation has told the ABC machetes can be easily sourced online. Victorian Consumer Affairs Minister Nick Staikos has been asked about whether online availability will reduce the effectiveness of the ban, but did not directly answer the question. "My expectation is that every retailer who does business in Victoria immediately removes machetes from sale," he said. Australian Border Force says there are no restrictions on machetes entering the country from overseas, and the agency doesn't have oversight over how items move across state lines. E-commerce giant Amazon said it was working to implement the ban for Victorian customers. "Following the decision by the Victorian state government, we are working to ensure these products are not available for purchase from 12pm Wednesday," an Amazon spokesperson said. Mr Staikos says it will be enforced through a "taskforce" run by Consumer Affairs Victoria. But he was not able to answer specific questions about how big the taskforce was, or how it would be run — saying these sorts of operations were "business as usual" for the agency. He did say the agency was communicating with retailers and would be "going around Victoria" to make sure businesses were complying. He also said the agency would also inform market stall owners through local councils. Mr Staikos says retailers caught selling machetes would be up for fines of more than $200,000 and possible jail time. From September, machetes will become a prohibited weapon and only Victorians with an exemption will be able to purchase and own them. The penalty for Victorians with a machete in their possession will be a fine of more than $47,000 or two years in jail. But Victorians will be able to dispose of their machetes as part of an amnesty. This amnesty will run from September 1 to November 30, where Victorians can legally hand in their machetes in outdoor bins at select police stations.
ABC News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Expedited machete ban has all the hallmarks of a Victorian premier in survival mode
It took a brawl between machete-wielding young people at a suburban shopping centre to speed up Victoria's ban of long-edged weapons — not some well-developed policy process from Premier Jacinta Allan's government. It has all the hallmarks of a premier in survival mode, a government struggling to define and stick to its political narrative and a party still grappling with a law-and-order problem. The shocking images of hundreds of Melburnians fleeing the Northland Shopping Centre in the city's north horrified the premier and sprung her team into action to come up with a swift and meaningful, response. The fact the two teenagers alleged to be the main offenders were on bail at the time only added to Labor's pain. An "announceable" was needed. When the machete ban was flagged by the state earlier this year, an immediate ban was ruled out as too difficult to implement — it was too impractical. Now Victorians are being asked to believe that this has somehow changed, and that a ban can be put in place within three days. How will the state crack down on online sales? Machetes are readily available right now with the click of a button. During Monday's press conference Minister for Consumer Affairs Nick Staikos said he would "clarify" how online sales would be policed. Premier Allan said the sale ban would "choke" the supply of machetes until possession of the weapons becomes illegal later this year. The government will not budge on that timeline. "We are doing it as quickly as possible, but also as safely as possible,'' the premier said. That, she said, was based on the advice of police. A taskforce is now being hastily arranged to police the sale of the items for the next 90 days. How will this work? The government is still unable to say what specific items are banned, other than items that are "around 20cms". Amnesty bins need to be set up at police stations so people can surrender weapons. The fear within government circles was that had it just stuck to its September timeline for machete bans, it would have infuriated an already cynical public. In political circles up on Spring Street, there is debate about how big an issue crime is with voters. The Coalition is convinced it's a top-two priority for Victorians alongside cost of living. Opinion is more divided in Labor, but there is a consensus that it is a major distraction for the government. In parts of Melbourne it is also doing damage to the brand. The premier has certainly lent into being a tough cop on the beat with a big spending law and order budget and "the toughest bail laws" in the country. Labor needs to neutralise the crime issue, and at the moment is reactive to pressure to act. But the focus on crime is starving the government of attention on its narrative. And herein lies its problem. What is Labor's political agenda under Jacinta Allan? "When you're lacking a narrative, something will fill the void,'' one insider said. The premier has continued from her predecessor Daniel Andrews's agenda of hard hats and high vis. But the political climate has changed since Andrews stood down. The budget is in a precarious position and the popularity of Allan's pet project, the Suburban Rail Loop, is up for debate among voters and her own caucus. Andrews's tenure was not immune from crime crises, in response to youth crime issues it tried to send teens to adult prison. A policy that was ultimately shot down by the Supreme Court. But Andrews was able to focus on other issues while dealing with crime. The opposition staked its 2018 campaign on law and order and got thumped. But justice has gripped Premier Allan's government in a different way — crime is up and it's a third-term government. Expediting the machete ban is a win for the opposition. It gets to keep talking about an issue it wants every debate to be focused on. Banning machetes has been top of the opposition's to-do list for more than a year, including under the previous leadership of John Pesutto. "Labor has only acted today because it had no choice. It's a decision born of political panic, not public safety,'' current leader Brad Battin said. Another former leader — there's three in the party room of 32 — has been active on social media saying that he had warned people of the problem with youth crime in 2018. "Violent youth crime was a huge problem. Labor ignored it,'' Matthew Guy said on Instagram. "People believed them. It remains a huge and increasing problem today…'' The government stresses this not a political response, but a genuine response to community concerns about safety. But the quick-fire response, in the face of negative headlines highlights a trend where the government is reactive to loud voices. Government sources lament the lack of a proactive social policy agenda, and say there is little appetite for any reform. Labor usually kicks goals when it comes to education, and it's important because one million Victorian kids go to school. Instead, the government has withheld $2.4 billion needed to meet the full funding for Victorian schools under the Gonski model. "We're called the Education State, well it's in name only,'' one frustrated MP said. And just last week it quietly shelved plans for landmark poker machine reforms, the decision buried in the budget with pokies taxes forecast to rise not drop as in previous years. It's symbolic, MPs say, of a government that spends too much time responding to crises and stakeholders, rather than its agenda. Next year's state election shapes as an intriguing contest. Labor is gunning for an historic fourth term, but is carrying three terms of baggage, yet is still well placed to win thanks to a big parliamentary majority. It also has a proven campaign machine ready to go — as witnessed in the federal result. Labor's opponents also have a litany of internal issues, poor campaign infrastructure and a lack of policy beyond law and order. Two months ago, Liberal MPs were claiming that even "a drover's dog" would win the next election. Post-May 3 this analysis has disappeared, and some of the hubris halted.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- BBC News
Australia fast-tracks first-ever machete ban after weekend attack
A fight involving machetes at a Melbourne shopping centre has prompted an Australian state to fast-track the country's first-ever ban on the weapon's sale. The ban - to start in Victoria this Wednesday, instead of September - comes after two gangs attacked each other at Northland shopping centre in Preston on Sunday afternoon. A man, 20, remains in hospital in a serious premier said the ban will "choke the supply", adding "the community shouldn't have to deal with these weapons in their shopping centres - neither should our police".Two boys, aged 16 and 15, were on Sunday charged with affray, intentionally causing injury, and possession and use of a controlled weapon. On Monday, police said two men, aged 20 and 18, had also been arrested and were being interviewed. All four people were known to police previously. "This was a planned fight between two rival youth gangs with no innocent bystanders hurt," said deputy commissioner David Clayton. "Fortunately, these events are not very commonplace in Victoria," he said, adding that youth knife crime is "rare" but "frightening".Clayton said one in 10 knife crimes in the state are committed by young people, and often happen in public places. Emergency services were called to the shopping centre in Preston - about 11km (seven miles) north of Melbourne - just after 14:30 local time (05:30 BST) on Sunday after reports of up to 10 people fighting. Police said the investigation "remains ongoing" and more arrests are expected. Three of the four machetes used during the attack have been seized, police Premier Jacinta Allan described the attack as "appalling". "We must never let the places where we gather - where families come together, to meet, to shop, to enjoy the peace of their weekend - become the places we fear," Allan said at a press conference. "It took the United Kingdom 18 months to bring about a ban on machetes and we are moving to do it within six months," she March, Victoria announced legislative changes to its Control of Weapons Act, making it illegal to sell or possess machetes, with the new law to start in September. The ban covers machetes, which are broadly defined as "knives with a cutting blade longer than 20cm". It does not include knives primarily used in kitchens.A three-month amnesty from September means anyone with a machete can place them in specially designated boxes at police stations. Police also thanked a man who held down one of the alleged offenders until police arrived, saying he "performed an outstanding job", but added they don't encourage the public to become involved in such incidents. In England and Wales, a ban on "zombie-style" knives and machetes was introduced last September, making it illegal to own, make, transport or sell a wide range of "statement" knives favoured by criminal gangs.
