Ivan Ray May’26

There is no question that Firebombing, or extortion, is now completely out of control, and the public is looking to the police to protect them.

As hard as they may try to do their job, they are unlikely to succeed without the tools to do it.

But before commenting on the tools needed, it is worthwhile to consider what is happening and what is likely to happen.

As we discuss this matter, reflect on why this criminal phenomenon seems to be concentrated in Victoria.

What started as a tool of extortion in the illegal tobacco retail industry, where firebombing was a method to gain control of market share by competing criminals, and reluctant retailers selling illicit products supplied by a particular criminal cohort, the Firebomb strategy was developed as an easy and cheap method to gain compliance by terrorising retailers, landlords, retail staff and customers.

The advantage of this strategy is that they could use kids to do the dangerous stuff for chump change, and the spectacular nature of each event made for sensational media, further amplifying the consequences of non-compliance with the extortion.

Unwittingly, the media has played into the criminals’ hands, doing all the marketing for them.

The media gives greater credibility to the extortion demands because they are not hollow, unlike when any half-baked crook can leave a note pinned to a business door, and the extortion process has begun.

Keeping the organisers at arm’s length from the actual fires, they believe they are somewhat insulated should things go pear-shaped.

But what started as a process restricted to the illegal tobacco industry has now evolved into one of the most serious criminal epidemics Victoria has faced, and nothing of substance is being done about it.

From tobacco stores, the next move was to take on the Nightclubs and Bars with bootleg booze, which, to some degree, is a cover for protection money, a critical part of the move. This extortion is highly clandestine, and the full extent of this criminality is unknown. You can be assured it is widespread, as business owners trying to survive in the current economic climate will not reveal they are being extorted, because that is how extortion works.

The future trajectory is plain to see, with liquor warehouses with over $3.5m damage, Sex shops, innocent people having their cars torched, and car dealerships being targeted.

Most Victorians have generally considered that this spate won’t affect them directly, given the targets thus far. Still, the real danger is that more and more crooks will jump on the Extortion bandwagon of easy money, and it will impact all of us.

It is inevitable, and it won’t be long before other businesses are targeted with straight-out extortion. Pay protection money, or you get a visit from our fire team.

Your local Supermarket, fish and chip shop, McDonald’s, Chemist, and petrol station (the bombing of a petrol station would be catastrophic but with the knuckle heads the criminals use, anything can happen) will all be vulnerable to the growth of this insidious criminality, where the extortion can remain hidden as business people are coerced into paying the extortion rather than risk their business, staff and or their customers.

We are confident this activity is no longer down to one or two crime lords but a plethora of would-be crime kings.

Easy money is the crooks’ incentive, and they are attracted to it like a moth to a light. The longer we leave the light on, the more moths that will be attracted.

Hoping that no innocent person is harmed is just wistful thinking and not very useful because we need urgent action to get on top of this issue before it gets on top of us.

If you think that the Police will solve this, you are naive. It will take far more than that because we are probably at this stage because we have hamstrung the police for too long, and now we are paying the price.

This is a government problem, and only the government can address it.

This list is not exhaustive, as there are obviously things that can be done, but priority should be given to recalling Parliament to deal with this urgent issue in a non-partisan way, where ideology is put aside for the welfare of this State and its citizenry.

Legislation is required.

• Introducing a new criminal offence for individuals recruiting, managing or otherwise facilitating children under 18 to commit a crime.This offence must reverse the onus of association with a child onto the accused, requiring the accused to show that the interaction was lawful. Upon conviction, a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum of fifteen years must apply.

• Introduce minimum mandatory sentencing for those convicted of extortion and associated offences under the Crimes Act. Knowing that they face a minimum of five years’ jail without parole will dissuade many fringe players.
• Abolish by Legislation the ‘doli Incapax’ legal tenet and leave it to the Jurists to decide how best to deal with juvenile offenders. Remove the bureaucratic intervention in criminal matters. Applying this tenet does not serve a child well. Being granted an age exemption feeds into the juvenile mind of unaccountability.
• Establish, as a matter of urgency, a Judicial Review Panel to manage the efficiency and performance of all courts and jurists. Remove inefficiencies and develop benchmarks for jurists to maintain high performance. The current system has failed and has contributed to the high-end evolution of criminality.
• Urgently reintroduce the Consorting Legislation so that the police have a weapon to manage the criminal element.
• Embrace new technology to allow access, without a warrant, to communications, encrypted or not, between criminals, including the youths they attempt to recruit, and, if necessary, employ high-end expertise in this area.
• Legislate the power for the Police to apply to the Courts for a warrant to access this and other metadata from declared individuals on a long-term basis. The legislation must empower the courts to direct Telco companies to cooperate with each warrant.
• Provide the Chief Commissioner with the necessary budget and authority to explore the latest technology in crime fighting to gather intelligence to avoid criminal endeavours, targeting the communication systems used by the criminal class.

Compromising their ability to communicate, supported by updated consorting laws that encompass electronic consorting, will be the most potent weapon and could have immediate as well as long-term impact.

While we are unaware of the level of expertise currently available to VicPol, the strictest confidence as to the current Force’s skills level in this area is understandable and justifiable. Given the success and rapid growth of the criminal extortion rackets, which appear to be accelerating rather than abating, it is clear that VicPol has been found wanting in this area.

The Parliament must accept responsibility and address this matter as a matter of urgency, as it is fast approaching a life-or-death scenario; if truth be told, we are probably already there.

Wake up, Victoria. The next firebomb might be yours.

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