Victorian Labor MPs question premier's tough love strategy for youth offenders

The Victorian Labor party is facing significant internal friction following the announcement of a major policy shift regarding youth justice. Premier Ben Carroll unveiled a $204 million initiative last week, designed to send children involved in low and mid-level offenses to secure facilities. The plan, which utilizes the former Malmsbury youth justice centre, aims to provide schooling, drug and alcohol treatment, and life skills training to young offenders.

Meena Singh, who served as the Victorian commissioner for Aboriginal children and young people from 2022 until December of last year, expressed strong disagreement with the approach. She noted that during her tenure, no such proposal had been presented to her. Now a professor at Monash Law School, Singh described the announcement as quite horrifying, arguing that it misleadingly frames the imprisonment of children as a therapeutic process.

Singh contended that the policy effectively imprisons children for the traumas they have experienced rather than the behaviors they display. She is not alone in this view, as the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service criticized the move as mandatory sentencing dressed up as political leadership. The Justice Reform Initiative also condemned the plan as a dramatically disproportionate response, joining other legal and human rights groups in opposing recent Labor changes aimed at reducing crime rates.

The criticism extends to the state’s union movement. Luke Hilakari, the secretary of Trades Hall, publicly rebuked the government on social media, suggesting the policy seemed more aligned with the Liberal party. He questioned the decision to lock up children for a year for offenses such as shoplifting or vandalism, noting that groceries were among the most commonly stolen items. Hilakari argued that the government should focus on fixing disadvantage rather than deepening it.

Political polling has not been kind to the ruling party during this period. A DemosAU poll released on Monday showed Labor with a primary vote of 18%, the lowest figure in its history. On the same day, the premier was campaigning in South Melbourne, promoting a $70 million plan to hire police reservists and a $300 million initiative to build and renovate police stations. A separate RedBridge poll released on Wednesday placed the party at a 23% primary vote, indicating an 18 point gap behind the Coalition on the issue of crime.

Several Labor MPs, who were not authorized to speak publicly, shared their concerns with media outlets. Some argued that the party was handing the Liberals a strategic advantage by campaigning on crime after presiding over rising crime rates and the closure of police stations. Others felt they had supported earlier tougher measures hoping to stem the bleeding, but the strategy has not yet yielded the desired results.

A Labor strategist, speaking anonymously, described the announcement as a metaphor for the party’s lack of clarity regarding its identity. The strategist was particularly concerned about Davydd Griffiths, Labor’s candidate in Melbourne, standing beside the premier at the press conference. Given that the seat is currently held by Greens leader Ellen Sandell, the strategist questioned what targeted Melbourne voter would support the policy, arguing that the focus on crime had scrapped any chance of winning the seat from the Greens.

MPs on the right of the party view the proposal as too little too late, emphasizing that crime disproportionately affects working-class communities in outer-suburban seats that Labor needs to retain. They believe the leadership has been out of touch with constituents, who have been raising concerns about crime during door knocking and street stall campaigns. On the left, the proposal is seen as further proof that Labor has abandoned its core values.

Premier Carroll has positioned himself as a centrist and an economically conservative, socially progressive leader. He has sought to distance himself from the government he has been part of for over a decade, with his campaign bus bearing the slogan New Premier, New Direction. The strategy appears to rely on the idea that voters desire a decisive break with the past, though there are concerns this may also disown the Labor movement’s achievements over the last 12 years.

One MP stated that a growing group of colleagues were furious that the new leadership had overseen the trashing of the government’s legacy. The election campaign has focused almost exclusively on the Big Build royal commission and law and order, both of which are currently losing votes for Labor. The Greens, who hit a record high 17% in Monday’s poll, have responded by urging voters to prioritize them over One Nation in their preferences, a move expected to hurt Labor in several seats.