A Tale of Two Policies: The Allan Government’s ‘Tough on Crime’ Cynicism and Deafening Silence on Gaza

In the political theatre of Victoria, Premier Jacinta Allan’s government is staging a performance of profound contradiction. On the domestic stage, it is pushing a so-called “tough on crime” agenda, targeting vulnerable children for political gain. On the international stage, it maintains a complicit silence in the face of a documented genocide. This duality exposes a government not of principle, but of pure political opportunism, willing to sacrifice both its own youth and its moral compass for electoral advantage.

The “Adult Time” Political Stunt: A Calculated Betrayal of Evidence

The Allan government’s plan to introduce “Adult Time for Violent Crime” laws, which could see children as young as 14 sentenced as adults, represents a stunning reversal of its own recently stated positions. This is not evidence-based policy; it is policy by focus group, drafted in a panic with an election on the horizon.

A Reversal of Its Own Evidence

Just last year, this same government raised the age of criminal responsibility, arguing that “disproportionate criminal justice interventions actually increase rather than decrease the risk of offending.” The current Police and Crime Prevention Minister, Anthony Carbines, stated in 2024 that “community safety is best served through prioritising diversion.” The new policy brazenly ignores this evidence, revealing a government that abandons its own logic when politically convenient.

Policy by Panic, Not Principle

Reports indicate this policy was formed with startling speed. Many in cabinet reportedly first saw the proposal just an hour before a meeting where it was to be decided. This is not the careful crafting of legislation; it is a knee-jerk reaction to political pressure, an attempt to adopt a “tough” facade that bears a “remarkable resemblance” to the “Adult Crime, Adult Time” laws introduced by the conservative opposition in Queensland.

Ignoring the Root Causes

This cynical move ignores the very drivers of youth crime identified: the breakdown of family structures, the lack of education and sustainable futures, and the failure to support migrant families whose social structures are undermined upon arrival. A former magistrate, David Heilpern, rightly calls such acts a “band aid over a bullet wound,” arguing that resources would be far better spent on welfare, mental health, and drug and alcohol counselling. This policy will disproportionately harm Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Pasifika children, entrenching them in a system they may never escape.

The Hypocrisy of Silence: Complicity in Genocide

While the Allan government theatrically postures on youth crime, its federal Labor counterparts, with whom it shares power and party rooms, are deeply implicated in a far greater crime. The Australian government, under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has been accused of complicity in the genocide in Gaza, a finding supported by a United Nations Commission of Inquiry which stated there are reasonable grounds to conclude Israel has committed genocidal acts.

The contrast between the government’s domestic grandstanding and its international cowardice could not be more stark.

In the realm of Youth Justice, the government’s stated principle was that “disproportionate criminal justice interventions actually increase… the risk of offending.” Its contradictory action is the introduction of “adult time” laws that experts say are disproportionate and will increase harm.

In the realm of International Human Rights and Gaza, the government has an implied commitment to international law and human rights. Its contradictory stance is one of active complicity: continuing military exports to Israel, including parts for F-35 fighter jets used in Gaza; refusing to sanction Israel while supporting similar measures against Russia; and abstaining on key UN votes for Palestinian rights.

This hypocrisy is not merely philosophical; it is active and material. Australia continues to profit from the genocide, having made over A$4 billion from exporting into the global supply chain for the F-35 warplane, which has been used in Gaza. Furthermore, the joint US-Australian Pine Gap spy base is “almost certainly providing targeting information to Israel,” directly implicating Australia in the atrocities.

A Government at a Crossroads of Its Own Making

The Jacinta Allan government, and the Labor party as a whole, stands at a moral precipice. It can continue down the path of cynical, short-term political stunts that brutalise its own children and make it complicit in crimes against humanity abroad. Or it can choose a path of principle.

This would require:

1. Rejecting the “Adult Time” fallacy and reinvesting in the social services, education, and community support that truly address the causes of crime.
2. Ending all complicity in the Gaza genocide by immediately halting military exports to Israel, supporting international accountability, and imposing sanctions.

The government’s current course is a betrayal of the vulnerable at home and abroad. It is a strategy built on sand, and the tide of public conscience is turning. The question is whether our leaders will have the courage to build a legacy of justice or will be remembered for their hypocrisy and cowardice.

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