The Victorian Liberals Have One Last Chance to Save Victoria
As crime escalates and Labor falters, Victoria desperately needs strong leadership. The Liberals must overcome internal chaos and present a real alternative ahead of the pivotal 2026 election.
The Victorian Liberal Party is a mess — an incoherent, dysfunctional, untrustworthy mess, as demonstrated by yesterday’s leadership spill, in which Jess Wilson replaced Brad Battin as leader. This is just the latest chapter in the party’s ongoing turmoil and infighting.
The incompetence of the Victorian Liberal Party is as much to blame for Victoria’s decline as Labor’s economic and social mismanagement.
The state needs a strong, principled opposition to highlight the many failings of Labor.
November 2026 represents an inflexion point. The state’s managed decline may become irreversible if Labor and Jacinta Allan secure power until at least November 2030.
The reasons are plain and obvious for all to see.
Violent Crime
We have all seen on social media in recent months, story after story of violent crime in Victoria. Machete attacks and senseless stabbings are seemingly daily occurrences. Is this a case of heightened media coverage of crime, or a tangible increase throughout the state? It is unequivocally the latter.
Victoria has endured a 13.8% year-on-year increase in criminal offences per 100,000 people. A wave of machete attacks has plagued Melbourne as violent offenders are let out on bail only to recommit violent crimes.
There are countless examples of this, and below are just a few:
On 15 October, a man allegedly committed multiple carjackings across Melbourne, wielding a fake gun and threatening drivers, while driving dangerously into oncoming traffic. The man had been let out on bail just two days prior for stealing a car and threatening to kill hospital staff in Laverton.
On 12 October, two boys aged 14 and 15 were arrested and charged with aggravated burglary. Armed with knives, the teens attempted to break into the residence of a father in Hawthorn.
On that same day, a group of five teenagers had a verbal altercation with a 47-year-old man and his 23-year-old son near Crown Melbourne when the teens pulled knives and stabbed each of them. All five teens were arrested. Horrifically, three of the teens were released on bail and returned to the scene of the crime the next day, where they bragged about the attack.
This is an extraordinary failure of government.
Loose Bail Laws
Victoria’s legal framework places an emphasis on rehabilitation over punishment for youth offenders. The state’s bail laws were softened in 2023 through the Bail Amendment Act 2023. Among the changes were special provisions for children and Aboriginal people seeking bail. Additionally, courts were directed to consider mental health, homelessness and family circumstances more explicitly, often favouring bail with conditions (such as treatment programs) over remand.
The Act was introduced to address criticisms from human rights advocates and legal groups in Victoria. These groups had argued that the state’s overly punitive bail laws disproportionately harmed vulnerable groups such as Indigenous defendants and those with mental health issues. As such, judicial discretion softened in an attempt to avoid unjust remand, with remand being viewed as a “last resort” in the Children, Youth and Families Act.
The Victorian Coalition was supportive of these changes implemented by the Andrews government.
The Bail Act was updated in March 2025 in response to public outrage over a rise in violent crime, which was backed by Victoria Police statistics showing a sharp increase in crime in the year to June 2024. The new laws passed despite opposition from the Greens and human rights advocates who argued for prevention-focused alternatives. Premier Jacinta Allan claimed Victoria now had “the toughest bail laws in the country”.
Yet, the case of the two teenagers charged with aggravated burglary in Hawthorn on October 12 tells a different story. The 14-year-old was already out on bail for a separate prior offence. The 15-year-old was granted bail despite opposition from police.
In this case, we see the justice system acting in direct contrast with the recommendations of Victoria Police. In all three examples from earlier in October, violent and aggressive criminals were granted bail.
Failure of Government
The Labor government in Victoria has failed to protect its people from violent, repeat offenders. 5,400 repeat offenders are responsible for 40% of the state’s crime. That is just 0.08% of the state’s population.
Jacinta Allan has failed her state. The voters know it. A Victorian Resolve Poll conducted in October has the Premier’s net likeability at -21, with former leader Brad Battin at +9. Additionally, concern about violent and anti-social behaviour has jumped significantly from 29% to 41% in the past twelve months. Despite all this, Labor is still favoured to win the 2026 election.
The election will occur with the backdrop of a statewide crime crisis and the most unpopular premier in the country bidding for re-election. In 2022, the Coalition, led by Matthew Guy, failed to offer voters any meaningful alternative to the Andrews Labor government.
They must not make that mistake again. A Liberal Party led by a strong leader with conviction behind its policies can win the 2026 Election.
To be that leader, Jess Wilson must persuade voters that they have the answers to the crime crisis inundating the state.
It is not sufficient to simply tell voters what the problems are. Or to tell them that Labor is to blame for all of their problems. Jess Wilson and the Liberal Party must present their own vision for the state, and outline how they plan to get there if elected in November.
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careful not to make this about race and stuff, that wouldnt be very christlike if we started acting like bigots
jesus hated bigots and loved the poor and dispossessed,
just a heads up
he would love it if you visited a prison or homeless shelter
hes watching you react to this right now
Koran and hadiths expressly command Muslims to kill Infidels and cause social unrest by whatever means in order to establish Sharia Law and an Australia ruled by the caliphate. Whilst there are peaceful Muslim countries which do not want to be ruled by a Caliphate, eg Azerbaijan, Australia in its “wisdom ” , has imported Radical Extremists who mask their faces to attack and injure police. The problems are Jacinta Allan and the Left-wing magistrates who let violent offenders out on bail the same day. Victoria is a failed State because of many factors including the Liberal Party’s infighting and constant change of leadership. Is this young woman better than the previous male Leader who was only a few months in the job under whose leadership Liberal polling made its first increase . So , how does the Liberal party reward him ? By replacing him !!! Victoria is so bankrupt financially , morally and spiritually (as is Labor Australia ) only a miracle can turn around the rot.
The Liberal party will never win another election in Victoria, they are finished and have demonstrated this by the recent leadership change. What we have is a uniparty, government and opposition working together to destroy our once great state. All that is required for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing and that unfortunately, is exactly what the Liberals are doing.
This is about race and their ways of life make no mistakes about it. The Bible shows numerous examples of the ways of Godless peoples.
Godless peoples from places that have zero respect for others and kill for petty gain have been allowed into Australia unfiltered. We are reaping the consequences of doing so from woke weak minded leaders and law makers.
Read the Word, the Word is from God. We see over and over races that reject Gods ways and how abominable they treat others and act. Times have not changed, people going weak have, and the result is we let in too many ungodly pagan worshiping peoples who spit on our ways and God’s ways laughing at us. We are reaping the whirlwind.
It’s not racist or racism, it’s Biblical facts. We watched the breach in the wall get bigger, and instead of fixing it, we made it wider. Australia is gone. Its only going to get worse. Thank our Godless govts who took God out of Parliament prayer’s, schools and society in general and cow towed to the pagan godless world. The restraints are gone.
Buckle up fellow real Christians the worst is yet to come before our Lord’s return. We aint seen nothing yet.
I think it’s more about ideology than race.
jesus saw all these comments
as a refugee himself, he is very grossed out by the loveless bigotry on display here and the churches purporting his name and bending his words of compassion and generosity
if its the christ i know, hes greasing up the temple whip and refuelling the fiery sword with a big old frown on his face
stop your hateful heart before it sends you to the pit
i also really enjoy watching your fear and hate and disappointment that flows like a wellspring
your faith was supposed to uplift and bouy you, but its actually a stone, dragging you down into depression, gloom and helpless fury
its how I discovered the worthlessness of your faith, the way you proudly hate and seeth out loud
the way you approached aids in the 80s told decent folk all they needed to know.
so the next time you see a black or indian person and start radiating misery lol lol lol
you did that to yourself and jesus saw it and what do you think he thought and made note of?
theres been ongoing atrocities in sudan so expect more refugees because thats what you do
protect the weak and vulnerable with your wealth and safety as jesus intended and spelled out very very clearly
stop being so afraid and help
start by supporting poor people in their own countries so they dont need to flee
start by putting yourself in their shoes and empathising as your faith commands
jesus is watching your reaction to these words very carefully, his parents were refugees
Great article Justin!!!!
Looks like another troll is dominating the comments and trying to divert attention from this article which uses freely available statistics to point out, with crystal clarity, the failures of the Allen Labor Govt. Thanks for an excellent article Justin Ahrns.
All we can hope for is that the Liberal Party has realised the error of its ways. In any democracy the opposition needs to oppose, not meekly agree and vote with the government time and again. Time will tell.