Freedom of Information documents reveal the Allan government spent $8.7 million on its machete ban — including flying to Sydney to buy blades for its own ads — while shopping centres keep turning into crime scenes. Family First’s Jane Foreman says Victorians were sold a $9 million press release.
Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws reveal that the Allan government’s machete ban cost Victorian taxpayers an estimated $8.7 million — more than $3.6 million of it on advertising alone. That is more than the government spent actually manufacturing and operating the surrender bins it celebrated as a public safety triumph.
“The Allan government spent more telling Victorians about the machete ban than it spent running it. That is not a public safety policy. That is a $9 million press release.”
Among the spending revealed in the FOI documents: $163,000 for a film shoot at Preston Police Station — which then turned out to be “not available” — followed by a further $37,000 to fly the production crew to Sydney, purchase machetes as props, and ship them interstate for the anti-knife advertisements. The government’s own ban made it impossible to source blades in Victoria, so it bought them in New South Wales with public money.
The total production bill for 153 seconds of video — and five retouched photographs of machetes — came to over $200,000. A further $115,000 invoice from the same agency is fully redacted. Victorians do not know what they paid for.
“This government flew to Sydney to buy machetes for an ad about banning machetes. The blades are still on our streets. The only thing this ban reliably cut was the public purse.”
Family First has consistently warned that the machete ban was a symbolic gesture designed to generate headlines, not reduce violence. Shopping centres in Highpoint, Clyde North, and across Melbourne have continued to see machete incidents since the ban took effect. The FOI documents confirm what Family First said from the start: there was never a plan, only a publicity campaign
Family First will deliver what the Allan government refused to:
- Real sentencing consequences — end revolving-door justice for violent repeat offenders.
- Strict bail laws that keep dangerous offenders off our streets, with no loopholes.
- Restored and expanded police powers with targeted operations at shopping centres and transport hubs.
- Investment in family stability — because preventing youth violence starts with strong families, not advertising campaigns.
“Victorians did not get a safer state. They got a $9 million ad campaign, a Sydney film crew, and another bloodied shopping centre floor. Family First will not waste another dollar on spin. We will deliver the consequences, the policing, and the family policy that actually keeps people safe.”
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