Bills

Summary Offences (Unlawful Selling of Knives) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

Mr BATTY (Bragg) (10:32): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Summary Offences Act 1953. Read a first time.

Second Reading

Mr BATTY (Bragg) (10:32): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I introduce the Summary Offences (Unlawful Selling of Knives) Amendment Bill 2024 today with a simple but sensible proposition, which is that children should not be able to buy knives. We enact this very simple and sensible reform with a discrete amendment to the Summary Offences Act, where it is currently an offence under the law to sell a knife to anyone under the age of 16. What this bill seeks to do is extend that prohibition to other minors aged 16 and 17 as well, and it does this through making some discrete amendments to section 21D of the act, including a provision that a person who without reasonable excuse sells a knife to a minor who is 16 or 17 years of age is guilty of an offence carrying a maximum penalty of $20,000 or imprisonment for two years.

Importantly, there is that provision for reasonable excuse to cater for a number of common sense examples of where a minor might lawfully and reasonably be able to purchase a knife, whether that be for the preparation or consumption of food, or construction or renovation, or the lawful pursuit of an occupation, education or training. An example there might be that an apprentice butcher can still reasonably and lawfully purchase a knife under these reforms.

What this legislation seeks to do is bring South Australia into line with the rest of the country and to make our community safer by preventing knife crime because the introduction of this bill today follows a very unfortunate spate of knife crimes committed by minors right across the state over recent weeks and months.

We know that crime is rising on a number of fronts right across the state. The latest SAPOL crime statistics unfortunately indicate a whole range of crimes have increased under the Malinauskas Labor government. We know that the latest crime statistics show a 54 per cent increase in murder, for example. We also know that 44 per cent of all attempted murders have involved a knife. We know from the latest crime statistics that there has been a 9 per cent increase in assaults or acts intended to cause injury, as it is described. We also know that every year around a thousand assault victimisations involve a knife.

So crime is up and unfortunately we keep seeing examples of crime involving knives and indeed involving minors, whether it be an incident on 23 June at Marion where three youths were arrested; two were 15 year olds, one was a 16 year old, and charges of assault, affray and aggravated robbery were laid and the shopping centre was put into lockdown and evacuated, or at Arndale on 25 June, where six youths were arrested for threatening a man. This included four 14 year olds, a 13 year old and a 15 year old, two of whom were carrying knives.

At Elizabeth, outside the courts on Friday 9 August, a group of teens were arrested for a brawl, aged 17, 16 and 15, with one of these youths allegedly wielding a machete around. As recently as last week, two separate incidents occurred at the same shopping centre on the same day, one of which resulted in three teens being arrested, aged 17, 16 and 14, after an18 year old was stabbed and taken to hospital, and a large knife with blood was reportedly found in a recycling bin in the centre.

It is incredibly disturbing and concerning to think that as recently as last week we had 16 year olds and 17 year olds allegedly committing crimes involving knives at local suburban shopping centres. It is even more disturbing to think that under South Australia's current laws those 16 and 17 year olds could have illegally purchased their knives. They could have legally purchased their knives unless and until this bill today is passed, and it should be passed because there is absolutely no need for children and teenagers to be wielding knives around and getting into brawls at our local suburban shopping centres. We do not need knives being wielded around at our local Westfields.

This law will bring the state into line with basically every other jurisdiction in the country. Unfortunately, under this Labor government, we have a little bit of catching up to do. Jurisdictions like New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia do not allow the purchase of knives by minors under the age of 18. I cannot understand why we in South Australia would be allowing teenagers to purchase knives, allowing minors to purchase knives, especially in the wake of this spate of knife crimes across our streets and suburbs.

I hope and, indeed, I expect that this bill will be supported by this parliament and I hope it is done so urgently because the picture that we have painted is very concerning. Every day that we are allowing children to buy knives is a day that our communities are being put at risk.

I must say, the government's response to the Liberal opposition introducing this bill to promote community safety today has been really unusual. First, we were met with the usual barrage of personal abuse, talking about us being, I think the Attorney called us new and inexperienced. Well, it is a bit rich I think calling us inexperienced. I think the Attorney is probably the least experienced Attorney we have had in South Australia. A new opposition has new ideas, which is what we are putting on the table today, and it is a new, sensible idea to ban children from buying knives.

Yesterday morning we heard the Attorney saying that banning children from buying knives was perhaps a bad idea because children could still go and get a butter knife and use it to commit a crime. That is such an enlightening observation from the state's first law officer that I will not even bother to respond to it. But later in the day the Premier changed his tune a little bit because we heard the Premier saying, 'We quite like your idea. In fact, we like it so much it is actually our idea. We were just about to do it. We were just about to do this, and not only were we going to do this but we were going to have a comprehensive package on knife law reform.'

If that is the case, support this bill today and get on with the rest of it. If you were just about to do it, what are we waiting for? How many more incidents like what we saw at the Elizabeth shopping centre last weekend are the Attorney and the Premier waiting for before we see this very sensible prohibition on children being able to buy knives passed? In the meantime, we have communities at risk and knife crime running rampant.

Where was the Premier's comprehensive plan to tackle knife crime at Marion in June? Where was it at Arndale in June? Where was it last week at the Elizabeth shopping centre? It is just a ridiculous thing to say: 'This is a bad idea from the opposition because it is something we were just about to do, just take our word for it, trust us.' Well, do it—but you have not done it. You have not done it, and it has been left to the Liberal opposition that actually cares about community safety. Law and order and community safety is in our DNA, and Labor have been caught napping.

They have been caught napping on this issue and people are getting stabbed. People are getting stabbed and kids are stabbing kids at suburban shopping centres. Every day that this law is not passed is a day that we are at risk. If you have all these ideas, let's see them, because here are ours, and you can pass it today. The truth is the first that we have heard about knife crime from the Labor government in recent months came only after the opposition introduced this bill to this parliament.

It has taken the Liberal opposition to introduce a bill into this parliament about knife crime for the government to realise that we are in the midst of a knife crime crisis in South Australia. As if the recent events had not been a wake-up call enough, it has taken the Liberal opposition to show that this parliament should be serious about law and order, making our communities safer and preventing knife crime.

Labor like to talk a big game when it comes to knife crime. The truth is all that the Malinauskas Labor government has done in recent times on knife crime is release a discussion paper. Discussion papers do not get knives out of the hands of children. The Liberal Party's strong new laws, which we introduce today, do. Community safety will always be a priority for the Liberal Party. It ought be for the government, and I urge them to support this bill and to encourage its urgent passage through both houses of parliament to make our community safer and prevent knife crime.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Odenwalder.