The latest machinations in the Government’s so-called war on Machete crimes have become a bigger joke than ever, but nobody is laughing at this black comedy..
We haven’t said too much on this subject to date because we figured that there were enough smart people in the Government to work out belatedly that the Government response was ridiculously flawed and they would rectify it —no such luck.
The vast majority of Victorians are well aware of the folly of the current strategies, namely-
- It’s not the machete that is the problem; it is the idiot carrying or waving it around.
- Banning the sale will do nothing to stop the influx of weapons online.
We assume this is one is not covered by the legislation. At $14.37 plus free delivery, an absolute bargain for kids, it is already claimed that 1.5k of these weapons (Sorry, gardening tools) have already been sold.
The plan is that Machetes will no longer be available in retail stores. Still, they will be available online, where there is a high probability that weapons currently on the street were accessed that way anyway, defeating any ban, and retailers only need to change the weapon’s description and sell it as a tool.
The Government must recant their stance on this issue and take direct action against the perpetrators. This approach to law and order is as stupid as the other clanger, where the Police had to advertise in the newspaper before any effort to curb violent crime in public places like railway stations.
The idiocy of a police operation where search and seizure powers operate on one side of the street and not the other and the operation is only to occur at stated times allows perpetrators to cross the street or wait for the time to run out to revert to their criminal ways, is downright stupid and the Police are made to look foolish.
Effective laws are needed to empower the police to do their job.
Legislation to allow a Police member to stop and search anybody they believe, on reasonable grounds, to be carrying an edged implement capable of being used as a weapon without a lawful excuse is essential to avoid the alternative of perpetrators taking up carrying axes, swords and sythes.
The onus of the lawful excuse must rest with the defendant.
The ‘Public Place ‘ provision must not be included as the weapons are popping up too frequently in Domestic Violence incidents, and often that occurs not in a public place.
If the Government thinks the average kid who has a machete is going to surrender their status symbol and prized possession, they are less in touch with reality than we suspect. Moreover, to expect the ones that we would most like to see disarmed to go to a police station to surrender their weapon would be naive in the extreme. We doubt even a buy-back scheme would have more than very limited success.
Further, the judiciary is currently exacerbating the problem by failing to meet community expectations by granting bail to recidivist offenders.
The whole Machete issue needs a rethink urgently.
The whole Machete issue needs a rethink urgently.
Really? Looking at the current situation, I see no evidence any ‘thought’ has been applied at all!
A change of government is the only solution. Unfortunately, that is looking less likely given the lefty small ‘l’ liberals are undermining Brad Battin at every opportunity!
The current Government position on machetes is a representation of the classic “being seen to do something”. It’s largely lacking logic. It’s an inept initiative – and its delayed implementation suggests that it is insincere. It will not achieve an adequate outcome. It will waste police resources and cause their frustration. It will further encourage delinquent youths in their anti-social behaviour. The crux of the community’s “machete” problem is not the machete itself, but the adopted social norms of those who carry machetes as a weapon. It is almost pointless to legislate against the implement, when the root cause of the problem is ignored. The problem involves a very low, widespread, standard of social responsibility – particularly that of youths. The “machete” legislation is futile. For legislation to be fit for purpose it must be based on decent analysis and definition of the matter it is aimed to control. [Sarcasm follows: I am surprised that the machete legislation doesn’t include on-the-spot fines to enable revenue-gathering…..a form of pay-for-privilege-to-offend.]
A machete is just a big knife. I have some fairly big knives in the kitchen I use for cutting up vegetables and so forth. A couple of them could easily serve as a machete if the handle was extended, something I could easily do if I was so motivated. The options do not stop there; it is not too difficult to grind a sharp enough edge on a metal bar and wrap the other end with something to make it easy to wield. As noted, it is the “idiot” on the handle. The issue is not the wielding of knives, not even the bare hostility, but the root cause(s) of the hostility. I bet my bottom dollar that, underneath it all, we are dealing with human beings. Does anyone care about them? From all the research I have done, and it is a fair bit, most people can be brought around to a reasonable attitude. This same story applies to 80-90% of the people we have, at great expense to the taxpayer. locked up in prison due to socioeconomic deprivations and/or dreadful family circumstance that have left them to sink or swim without any support. The money us taxpayers pour into the justice system could be better spent in most cases helping to resolve the fundamental socioeconomic, multigenerational issues that push people who know nothing better to the brink of survival. For the most part we are only talking about a few Post Codes. It is time for our Government to stop the “get_tough_on_crime” bullshit and do something genuinely helpful. I know it is not easy … anything worthwhile usually isn’t.