Bills

Summary Offences (Unlawful Selling of Knives) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 30 October 2024.)

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (10:32): I stand to support the bill that the member for Bragg has brought to this place. We know that we have seen a number of knife attacks happening in metropolitan Adelaide in particular over recent months involving youths. The bill itself will actually put an age limit, with exceptions of course for those who require knives for their employment or for other purposes so they can still participate in the legal and productive use of knives.

It is currently an offence to sell a knife to a minor who is under the age of 16, and the bill will amend the Summary Offences Act 1953 to also prohibit the sale of a knife to anyone aged 16 or 17. I think it is also fair to say that we are seeing increases in age. The Premier and the Prime Minister are now saying that social media is unfit for anyone under the age of 16. That is an increase in the age that people were talking about access to social media for minors just a couple of years ago. We believe, on this side of the house, that it is time to raise the age for someone to legally buy a knife without reason.

The bill follows a disturbing spate of alleged knife crimes committed by minors in recent weeks, including two separate incidents on the same day at the same shopping centre involving children aged 16 and 17, who could have bought their knives legally under the current law.

There are some who are saying that knives are available in the house and available elsewhere, but I think when knives are taken from a house, or knives might be taken from elsewhere where people are aware of those knives, there is a chance that it will be noted that that person is taking a knife or that a knife is missing and families can act. Whereas with a young person going secretly to buy a knife at the age of 16 or 17, using pocket money for example, the parents do not know about it and siblings might not know about it.

This bill itself will actually be an additional mechanism, if you like, for restricting access through that pathway. That is probably the most anonymous way in which a young person can get hold of a knife. As I said earlier, there are ways in which knives can be obtained in a work situation or in a household, but often it will involve witnesses or other people being aware of a missing knife, or seeing the person actually taking that knife and they could take action as a family member, or a friend, or a work colleague, or an employer, to ask questions as to what was the purpose of that knife being taken.

The proposal is canvassed in the commonwealth's own discussion, in a paper titled, 'Tackling knife crime in South Australia', which was recently out for consultation, the government opening consultation on 21 July 2024 and closing consultation on 25 August the same year. The government has not released the outcome of that consultation or plans for any legislative reform.

We think it is urgent now. We think the incidents of knife crime amongst youth is increasing exponentially and so we believe that the bill is urgent. That is why the member for Bragg has brought this bill to the House of Assembly at this time, so that the assembly can deal with the bill and ensure that we can provide another barrier, if you like, to young people having access to knives. Even if this saves one life, or avoids one permanent disability, it is worth supporting. We are not saying it is the cure. We are not saying it is going to stop all youth knife crime, but it is a barrier to put in place that is not currently there.

The bill itself mirrors other states, territories and other jurisdictions. In the United Kingdom, for example, it is an offence to sell to a person under the age of 18 years any knife, knife blade, razor blade, axe or other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed, and which is made to adapt for use for causing injury to a person. The knife is not identified and it could also include kitchen cutlery knives and disposable knives. So you can see in the UK they have got to a point where they have had to ramp up the category and be very specific about the process, because they have a much more serious situation there. Maybe, if it had been dealt with earlier with legislation like the member for Bragg has brought into this place it may not have got to the serious level that it has got to in the UK. Hardly a week goes by where you do not see something on the BBC or international news about knife crime in London in particular. It is a worldwide phenomenon.

Again, some may argue the influence of streaming and social media, where young people and kids see these types of things—knife use, violence in movies and so forth, and videos of real-life incidents happening—not being fully aware of the serious consequences and serious damage that a knife can do to somebody. It is all very glamorous in a movie; it is nowhere near as graphic in a video that you may see of somebody recording a knife attack in the street.

Consequently, we see that it appears, certainly from my observation, that young people are accessing this information through social media and feeling that it is an option for them if they want to settle a dispute or if they feel that they want to 'protect themselves', not knowing that it could change not just the victim's life forever but their life forever as well with the use of that knife in a heated situation.

This is a brake, if you like, a mechanism as a brake or an obstacle to the ability for young people to obtain knives for spurious purposes. It certainly does not stop—and I must emphasise this because when this was being debated on the radio, the Attorney-General deliberately, in my view, misrepresented the bill when he said that this would affect butcher apprentices. It will not affect butcher apprentices. The member for Bragg has been very clear about the intent of the bill. There are exemptions that will allow those who use knives as part of their employment and other specific purposes to still have access. This is about the illegal use of knives, not the legal use of knives. I support the bill and encourage the parliament to support this bill in the chamber today.

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (10:42): I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 18

Noes 10

Majority 8

AYES

NOES

PAIRS

Motion thus carried; debate adjourned.