Key facts
- Carroll said children on a crime trajectory, such as carrying a knife or looking to steal cars, can expect detention in Malmsbury.
- Singh, now a professor at Monash law school, said imprisoning children is effectively imprisoning them for traumas they have experienced.
- Hilakari wrote that locking up children for a year for shoplifting or vandalism sounded like Liberal party policy.
- About half a dozen Labor MPs from across factional lines shared concerns with Guardian Australia on condition of anonymity.
- A Labor strategist said the focus on crime had scrapped any chance of winning Melbourne off the Greens.
- The DemosAU poll put the Greens at a record high 17% primary vote.
Victorian Premier Ben Carroll announced a $204 million "tough love" plan on November 8, 2026, to send children who commit low and mid-level offenses to secure facilities, including the former Malmsbury youth justice centre, for schooling, drug and alcohol treatment and life skills. Carroll told reporters that children on a crime trajectory, such as carrying a knife or looking to steal cars, could expect to be detained in the new mandatory detention at Malmsbury.
Meena Singh, who was the Victorian commissioner for Aboriginal children and young people until December 2025 and is now a professor at Monash law school, told Guardian Australia she was "quite horrified" by the announcement. She said it was misleading to paint the imprisonment of children as therapeutic and that imprisoning them effectively imprisoned them for traumas they had experienced rather than the behaviors they were displaying.
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service called the announcement "mandatory sentencing dressed up as political leadership" and the Justice Reform Initiative called it a "dramatically disproportionate response", Guardian Australia reported. Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari wrote on his personal social media account that he had thought locking up children for a year for shoplifting or vandalism was Liberal party policy, and asked how the government planned to fix disadvantage rather than deepen it.
About half a dozen Labor MPs from across the party's factional lines, not authorized to speak publicly, shared concerns with Guardian Australia. Some said Labor was handing the Liberals a free kick by campaigning on crime after rising crime rates and the closure of police stations, while others said the proposal showed Labor had abandoned its values. A Labor strategist who requested anonymity described the announcement as "a metaphor for the complete lack of clarity regarding our identity and message for Victorian voters".
Hilakari shared a DemosAU poll released on November 9, 2026, showing Labor on an 18% primary vote, the lowest in its history. That same day Carroll was in South Melbourne promoting a $70 million plan to hire police reservists and $300 million to build and renovate police stations. A separate RedBridge poll released on November 11, 2026, put Labor on a 23% primary vote and 18 points behind the Coalition on crime. The Greens confirmed on November 13, 2026, they would run an open ticket urging voters to put the Greens first and One Nation last.