Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (10:30): The tough-on-crime approach has completely failed. Victoria has the largest police force in Australia, and Labor’s harsher laws, increased prisons and almost doubling of police funding have not made people feel any safer. We cannot keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. We need a different approach to community safety – that means evidence-based policies that prevent crime, tackle inequality and connect and support young people. We need to back community-led programs that break the cycle of offending. We need a health-led response to mental health crises, with trained first responders and outreach workers to support people in distress instead of sending in police. We need to address the root causes of crime with secure housing, good schools, decent jobs, health care and community services. This is not radical. Even New South Wales is moving away from sending in police to mental health emergencies, investing more than $270 million in a new health-led response. New York has just experienced its safest first six months on record after adopting a more compassionate, evidence-based approach to community safety. The principle is simple: send the right person to the right problem and invest in preventing harm before it happens instead of just policing it after the damage is done.