A former Victorian Premier says youths who use knives and machetes should go to a “prison farm” and that once they decide to use edged weapons, “they have no rights”.

Jeff Kennett, 77, led the Liberal-National Coalition Government in Victoria from 1992 to 1999.

He has been outspoken about the youth crime crisis gripping the state, including describing Victoria as “f***ed” in an interview in August.

Speaking on Sunday night, Mr Kennett slammed the current government’s soft-on-crime approach that has seen young offenders offered bail time and time again despite violent crimes.

“There is no leadership from the top,” he told Ten News Plus. “There is no respect for the top. And the young people think it’s all a game.”

Asked about magistrates and judges granting bail to young people who use knives and machetes because “locking up kids means that when they’re released they’ll only fall back into a life of crime”, Mr Kennett was emphatic.

“Rubbish. We’re past that stage now. We’ve got to think about the rights of the public. We’ve got to think about the rights of the law abiding 99 per cent of the community.

“It’s alright for us to sit here and say ‘What about a, b, c or d?’ But how does a family react when their son is macheted to death and you and I say ‘What about the rights of the offender?’

“They have no rights, they’ve lost their rights. I think getting out to a prison farm overseen by officers where they can physically work, take you out of the community, put you into a place where you’re working physically during the day, educated in the evening and you go and have a good night’s sleep.”

Former Victorian Chief Magistrate Nick Papas KC is among those who say locking up teens is a “failure of society”.

Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Papas conceded that there is a “core group of young offenders that we have to give up on and lock away”.

But taking a broad brush approach is going to do more harm than good, he said.

“Unfortunately, it pains me to say this, there are a group of offenders that we simply have to warehouse for the protection of society.

A former Victorian Premier says youths who use knives and machetes should go to a “prison farm” and that once they decide to use edged weapons, “they have no rights”.

Jeff Kennett, 77, led the Liberal-National Coalition Government in Victoria from 1992 to 1999.

He has been outspoken about the youth crime crisis gripping the state, including describing Victoria as “f***ed” in an interview in August.

Speaking on Sunday night, Mr Kennett slammed the current government’s soft-on-crime approach that has seen young offenders offered bail time and time again despite violent crimes.

“There is no leadership from the top,” he told Ten News Plus. “There is no respect for the top. And the young people think it’s all a game.”

Asked about magistrates and judges granting bail to young people who use knives and machetes because “locking up kids means that when they’re released they’ll only fall back into a life of crime”, Mr Kennett was emphatic.

“Rubbish. We’re past that stage now. We’ve got to think about the rights of the public. We’ve got to think about the rights of the law abiding 99 per cent of the community.

“It’s alright for us to sit here and say ‘What about a, b, c or d?’ But how does a family react when their son is macheted to death and you and I say ‘What about the rights of the offender?’

“They have no rights, they’ve lost their rights. I think getting out to a prison farm overseen by officers where they can physically work, take you out of the community, put you into a place where you’re working physically during the day, educated in the evening and you go and have a good night’s sleep.”

Former Victorian Chief Magistrate Nick Papas KC is among those who say locking up teens is a “failure of society”.

Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Papas conceded that there is a “core group of young offenders that we have to give up on and lock away”.

But taking a broad brush approach is going to do more harm than good, he said.

“Unfortunately, it pains me to say this, there are a group of offenders that we simply have to warehouse for the protection of society.

“If a kid has had six bails and uses machetes on six occasions to steal cars, sorry, time’s up. You can be warehoused, you can meet other criminals. If you need to grow up to learn these lessons, that’s what’s necessary to protect the rest of us. There is a core group where you just need to lock them up, I accept that.

“But let’s work out who we can save, let’s concede defeat with respect to the group of kids who can’t be saved. But that’s also an admission of complete defeat.

“If our education system and social welfare systems have failed by allowing kids to become like this, then that’s an admission of failure in society.”

The Secretary of the Police Association of Victoria, Wayne Gatt, also laid the blame on the Jacinta Allan-led Labor Government in Victoria.

“This hasn’t happened by accident,” he said of the current crime wave, one backed up by statistics as the worst in decades.

Cont'd...

I wish we could kick out the incompetent Labor government we have in Victoria now. They have no clue.

The gates of Gon'Mo (Gondwanamo bay) yawn wide for those convicted of violence with weapons... the Homeland Aboriginal guards are not easygoing and won't take shot like the guards at Cessnock ... The Croc - up there the crocs get the escapees .... if the snakes don't... and traditional punishment hurts... enough of this lad-de-da White Man's garbage punishments...

More soft sentencing in Victoria:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-03/teen-avoids-conviction-over-bendigo-marke...

A teenager has been given a good behaviour bond over a violent attack on a security guard in Bendigo in March.

The assault prompted a shopping centre lockdown and drew widespread community outrage.

What's next?
The teen, who was also sentenced for two additional fights in February, has avoided conviction and must continue counselling for 12 months.

aquascoot wrote on Nov 3^rd, 2025 at 6:49pm:



Dandenong.

Victoria has become the cess hole of the world.

The Melbourne cup is not any longer any thing to do with the rest of Australia.

Enjoy your  “own “ race.

I sincerely hope you don’t get attacked with a machete

Ward C of Shutter Island (Australia) - the psychiatric institution of Planet Earth - which in turn is the psychiatric hospital for the Universe.

For some reason we are having a Black Australia Policy forced on us... everybody rubbishes the past White Australia Policy - but nobody even seems to notice the Black Australia Policy - and somehow people think that hidden in it somewhere is some form of 'justice'.

We have to take back the asylum... simple as that.
We need to change our 'instant citizenship' rules and make citizenship a chore to obtain over ten years or so. 
We need to break the power of the central government.
We need to turn back the clock on everything 'woke'.
We need to stop mass immigration and revert to our former style of immigration.


**footnote**  great to see some others understanding the global push to neo-Feudalism - a form of Fascism with a self-appointed elite dictating to the rest - and beginning to see the need to start stopping it now.  As things stand - the only thing that will save the West from itself is a global conflict.... good luck with that.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Nov 4^th, 2025 at 11:06am:


Actually, they've changed the headline now and removed the word "iconic". Must've gotten a lot of backlash for that description.

Captain Nemo wrote on Nov 4^th, 2025 at 11:55am:


The number of people migrating from NSW and Vic to Qld has been on the increase for decades now. Property prices and overcrowding are the main factors.

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Nov 4^th, 2025 at 6:17am:


No, we need a central government which can create an economy which works for all.

Quote:


The US can't save itself.

Not a reliable ally capable of engendering confidence.....

Armchair_Politician wrote on Nov 3^rd, 2025 at 12:03pm:


So agree 100%

Kennet is right, I’ve always liked him. He’s tough and makes sense.
Met him once way back when he was doing political rallies in different areas around where I live.

I’m sick of the pansy feather approach from our Vic labor leader.
We need Jeff to come back as premier of Vic!
Ageist? If it works for USA having elder aged presidents, then why not premier for us in Victoria?

Someone said recently on this forum or somewhere….these machetes swingers should be taken to the Queensland cane cutting fields!

Sophia wrote on Nov 6^th, 2025 at 10:08am:


It's not an exaggeration to say that the ALP are more concerned with the rights of violent youths than innocent people, and it is for that reason that these youths are running rampant in Melbourne. They know that there will be little to no consequences for their actions. They know that the ALP government doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to crack down on this crimewave.

Seriously, it isn't hard to bring it to an end. Just don't give bail to these youth offenders caught committing crimes with machetes and other weapons. Absolutely don't give bail to youth offenders caught committing crimes with machetes and other weapons while on bail! It's as simple as that. Lock them up so that they cannot harm innocent people. Stop and search these youths and arrest them if they even have a weapon in their possession. Lock them up until they realise there are consequences for their actions. Force them to attend Court instead of making it merely a suggestion. I can't believe I even had to type that sentence - the absurdity of it is astounding! Turn juvenile justice centres back into prisons, not holiday camps. Punish violence when it occurs in those centres instead of letting it pass.

These are not new ideas. It's just common sense - something the Allen government has little if any of.

Bob Carr. He pushed the Desalination Plant in and was rewarded by Macquarie Bank

Youth criminals - deport 'em to South Australia and put 'em to work rectifying the mouth of the Murray with shovels...

Daves2017 wrote on Nov 6^th, 2025 at 3:48pm:



Hear! Hear!   Jeff Kennett is not the answer to anything.   His reign of power was just to sell everything off and look we we are now.   How quickly people forget what an absolute disaster his Government was to Victoria.    Can’t afford to run your heating this winter?   Ask Jeff why.

John Smith wrote on Nov 5^th, 2025 at 7:51am:


And as a result QLD property pricing is going through the roof & the overcrowding has shifted states.

The SE corner will become an unlivable shytehole next.

Sophia wrote on Nov 6^th, 2025 at 10:08am:



Thanks a bunch Sophia - more shyte exports out of Victoria

Besides we stopped using cane knives to cut cane in QLD in the early 1970s.

Machetes are no good for that job.... you need a specialised "cane knife".

There are several blade variations.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Nov 3^rd, 2025 at 12:01pm:


Extreemely poorly.