By Bonny Burrows
A joint taskforce to crack down on youth gangs in Melbourne’s south east has been mooted.
Federal Member for La Trobe Jason Wood has proposed a three-step plan to tackle the notorious Apex Gang and other organised youth crime groups in the light of “rapid” growth in numbers within the Dandenong-originated gang and the recent Bourke Street tragedy.
The multi-agency taskforce is to be based in Melbourne’s south east.
Mr Wood said youth gang crime has been rampant in recent times with a transition from street crimes to car jackings and home invasions, terrifying local residents.
“In Victoria, crime has increased by 11 per cent, with the most impacted areas being the western and south eastern suburbs of Melbourne,” Mr Wood said.
“We have people living in fear of being the next victim, and it shouldn’t be like that.”
Mr Wood- a former police officer- said a joint taskforce, in this case bringing together federal and state police, immigration officers and the Australian Gangs Intelligence Coordination Centre, was seen as a best practice approach by international law enforcement agencies to target the behaviour.
“The unique combination of shared experience in law enforcement, knowledge of how best to target gangs, make arrests and reduce community fear that comes with this partnership is immensely valuable,” Mr Wood said.
Along with the taskforce, the proposal also includes a national database, logging gang members and population growths as an “early warning system” and the expansion of the National Anti-Gangs Squad to target violence youth gangs, not just outlaw motorcycle groups.
Mr Wood has also suggested changes to the bail laws to ensure young migrant repeat offenders are locked up and ordered to leave Australia once they turn 18 and a probationary citizenship period of up to 10 years.
The Federal Government has already strengthened the Migration Act, giving it increased powers to cancel visas of people sentenced to 12 months or more in jail or for those convicted of a child sex offence.
However, crimes committed by foreign-born youths under the age of 18 are currently not taken into account on character tests once they turn 18.
Mr Wood said while it might be uncomfortable to talk about the ethnic group of those committing such crimes “in order to understand the problem fully, we cannot shy away from these details”.
“It is largely the case that most members of these violence youth gangs like Apex are of Sudanese or Islander descent and a number are also new migrants to our country,” Mr Wood said.
Mr Wood said many were simply getting away with “a slap on the wrist”.
“And for the large part, they are unfortunately right…we need a ‘one strike and you’re out’ policy when it comes to bail and serious violent crimes,” he said.
“We need a serious game changer.”
Mr Wood has put forward the proposal for consideration by the Federal Government.
The Gazette understands Federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton supports the proposal, however his office did not respond to requests for comment.
