“Bendigo, we have a problem…”

Andrew Lethlean Nationals Candidate for Bendigo

I’VE spoken to hundreds of locals and the increasing crime rate is a major concern across our community.

People are scared in their own homes and parents are worried about their kids when they go out. At the same time, business owners are sick of shoplifting and antisocial behaviour.

I’ve also been told about poor behaviour on our public transport system and the railway station platform itself, with travellers expressing concern for their welfare.

Recently a distressed father sent me a video of his son being swarmed by a group of young men in a violent assault in Bull Street. I was disgusted to see the footage of the unprovoked attack where the defenceless university student was punched, kicked and kneed in the head by several assailants.

Any one of the blows could have been fatal.

I urge anyone with information on that alleged assault, or any crime in our community to contact Crime Stoppers.

We need to work together to combat the scourge of crimes which are undermining community safety and making locals worry about their families.

The latest crime data reflects an increase in incidents across our region and I’m saying we need more practical action on the ground.

I support major investment in lighting, security cameras and increased patrols of public places to ensure people of all ages can feel safe in our community.

The Crime Statistics Agency’s data shows an increase in criminal incidents across local government areas for the year ending September 2024.

Criminal incidents rose by 13.3 per cent in Greater Bendigo, 23.7 per cent in Mt Alexander Shire and 8.6 per cent in the Macedon Ranges Shire.

If I’m elected to Federal Parliament, I will always work to keep our community safe.

We all have a right to be safe in our homes and on our streets.

I want to see more police on the streets and I want the courts to back them as we crackdown on crime and antisocial behaviour.

I’ve been in hospitality businesses in Bendigo for over 22 years and I’ve never seen crime levels this bad in our community.

We have so many fantastic local businesses and we should all be able to go out and enjoy them, whether it’s during the day or at night, and feel safe.

Law and order is primarily an issue for the State Government but Labor has failed to keep us safe, and I support Federal Government funding for safer streets.

As a start, the Coalition will provide $7.5 million in additional funding to Crime Stoppers.

Crime Stoppers is an important part of the efforts of our communities and our law enforcement agencies to disrupt crime. The additional funding will enable Crime Stoppers to expand its operations and protect more locals from the devastating impact of crime.

In 2023, almost 4000 arrests and 10,000 charges were laid nationally because of information provided by the community through Crime Stoppers.

This funding will assist the effort of Victoria Police and is an extremely effective way of fighting crime at a local community level.

We will also support investment in infrastructure to provide safer places for our community to gather and enjoy each other’s company without the threat of violence.

The crime problem demands action across all levels of government in partnership with local communities. We must do better. Enough is enough.