Stop the spin on youth gang crime
IF the Victorian Government isn’t concerned about the effect youth crime gangs will have on its chances at the ballot box come November, it certainly ought to be.
Years of repeated warnings, in particular in relation to African youth crime gangs, have been ignored by the Andrews Government, with soft soap solutions leaving youth crime to fester and grow unimpeded.
Add to that a judiciary where judges and magistrates repeatedly fail to send out strong enough messages to deter offenders and it means Victoria is now facing a youth crime crisis.
Federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton stated during the week: “There is a need to respect the judiciary, but in the end the magistrates at state level are appointed by the state premiers. And if (the State) is employing civil libertarians and people who won’t place proper deterrence, well, you can expect the sort of outcomes we’ve seen in Victoria.”
Earlier in the week, Victoria’s Police Minister Lisa Neville was asked about violent African youth crime gangs terrorising Victorian communities, leaving many residents too frightened to leave their homes for fear of being attacked.
Ms Neville said she had “full confidence in the capacity and resolve of Victoria Police to disrupt and stop these criminal thugs”.
She went on: “Their (police) efforts will continue to make inroads into this intolerable behaviour by a small group of young people in Victoria.”
A small group? Surely the minister stays abreast of the daily news. And surely she had seen televised footage of scores of young African youths brawling wildly, assaulting people and trashing property around Melbourne and its outer suburbs.
Even a South Sudanese community spokesman claimed more than 500 young African men to be currently involved in criminal gangs in Victoria.
So a small group it definitely is not.
As for Ms Neville’s “confidence in police to disrupt and stop these criminal thugs”, what a joke!
In case you hadn’t noticed Minister, our police are now finding themselves under siege from the violent, out-of-control gangs you say, don’t exist.
Next we had Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp’s comment that: “I well and truly believe we’re on the right track”.
What track is that exactly Mr Crisp? Off the beaten, is my guess!
He went on: “We’re locking a lot of people up!”
Well hang on! Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be doing?
On Tuesday Ms Neville, still in denial, again addressed the media,
“They’re not gangs! They’re wannabes,” she said.
OK, so nothing to worry about then.
Then Acting Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton put his five cents worth in, claiming young thugs and criminals were “not an organised crime group”.
“They’re not like a Middle Eastern crime group or an outlaw motorcycle gang, but they’re behaving like gangs. So let’s call them that, street gangs,” he said.
So let me get this straight Mr Patton. We’ll call them street gangs because they’re behaving like other gangs but they’re not real gangs, right? What a crock! For the State Government to have any real hope of addressing youth lawlessness in Victoria, it must first admit it has a major problem with out-of-control African youth crime GANGS, not “groups”, not “wannabes” or any other silly spin they want to put on it.
On a broader spectrum, it also needs to carry out a complete review of sitting magistrates in this state, check out the sentences they hand down in relation to serious criminal offending and, where necessary, ‘encourage early retirement’.
Name and shame every single member involved in African Youth crime gangs — and any other youth crime gang, including the publication of their faces so we all know what they look like.
And the Federal Government needs to stop talking and cancel visas of all African youth crime gang members involved in criminal activities and deport them.
There are many decent, lawabiding African people living in this country who deserve to be able to get on with their lives without being tainted by these idiots.
Meanwhile, if the Andrews Government continues on its merry way, ignoring the major concerns and fears confronting all Victorians on this issue, they might as well start clearing their offices now.
Would the other mob, if elected, do any better?
Truth is, they couldn’t do any worse