Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:58): (2609) My constituency question is to the Attorney-General. While the Labor government boasts of its ‘adult time for violent crime’ laws, the Liberals and Nationals have rightly predicted that this is nothing more than another form of promotional hype about laws that are failing Victorians. An early test case of these laws proves, to no-one’s surprise, that the coalition was correct. In February a 16-year-old girl held a taxidriver at knifepoint at Dandenong station. She stole his car and sped along Princes Highway at 180 kilometres an hour. It is a miracle no-one was physically hurt. Now the taxidriver is traumatised and fearful every time he takes a passenger. But recently this teenager walked free from court without spending a single day in jail, despite pleading guilty. Attorney-General, when will you implement real consequences for offences that match community expectations to curb the out-of-control youth crime in this state?
Sitting suspended 12:59 pm until 2:01 pm.