00:01Four weeks today, pre-polling opens in the Victorian election, so this window is pretty
00:07tight. Now MPs, like politicians across the country and the general community, are pretty
00:12rattled by the events on Monday night. They have saying, a lot of them have said privately
00:17that they feared something like this was going to happen. Former Premier Jacinta Allen, when
00:21she was Premier, held these private fears and she'd tell people that she feared somebody
00:26was going to be killed because of the heightened risk, the heightened security threat and just
00:31the general rhetoric and the vitriol that's in the community directed at politicians of
00:35all stripes, particularly government MPs. The sort of unpredictable nature of it too, I
00:42think scares a lot of MPs and some MPs are getting out of politics and it's not just the threats
00:47in person, it's also the constant stream of abuse online as well, which is driving many
00:52of them away from politics or not even considering a career in politics and they're just worn
00:57out. And I think we've heard from leaders like Ben Carroll, the Premier here, saying that
01:01today noting in interviews, radio interviews, hitting out at the algorithm on social media
01:06and what damage that's doing to our discourse in society. And so back to the main point, four
01:12weeks to go, MPs here do want to see increased security. At the moment it's only really the
01:17Premier of Victoria who gets the close personal protection from Victoria Police and others want
01:23to see more. And given those pre-polling centres open in four weeks, there's concern that MPs
01:29might feel a little bit insecure at those pre-polling places where they really need to be because
01:33this is going to be a very tight election. The Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush was asked
01:37about this this morning. If there are Victorian MPs who are very concerned about their safety
01:43going into the election, is there anything stopping you in a resource capacity with providing
01:49them with more support if they're safe? Nothing at all. And we're talking to them this afternoon
01:55and that's why I said we'll be standing up and centralising our reporting so that there is
02:01a one-stop shop for that, but also a place where we can be very proactive. We have a 24
02:06-7
02:07State Command and Coordination Centre. We will expand its remit, establish a joint intelligence
02:13group to make sure that we get in front of these things. I'll share more of that detail
02:18with the members themselves this afternoon.
02:26Now, that's the Chief Commissioner Mike Bush. He will be meeting with the Cabinet of Victoria.
02:31The Premier has called a special Cabinet meeting to discuss security this afternoon. One
02:36thing that is worth noting is that Brendan Nugent, the man who's been charged with these crimes
02:41in Wangaratta, one of the offences he's facing is specifically about attacking a Commonwealth
02:48public figure. A similar law does not exist in Victoria and some Victorian MPs would like to
02:54see that law created in Victoria to give them an extra layer of protection. I think these
02:58things will all be on the table when the Government meets this afternoon.
03:01So, let's see.
03:02Let's see.
03:02Let's see.
03:03Let's see.
03:03Let's see.
03:03Let's see.
03:04Let's see.
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