The New South Wales government’s plan to double the penalties for people holding or brandishing knives in public has been described as a “kneejerk” response to high-profile stabbings despite knife-related crimes being at a 20-year low in the state.
The changes introduced to parliament on Tuesday would see people caught with knives facing up to four years in jail or $4,400 in fines, with the penalty jumping to $11,000 if someone is caught wielding a knife in public or at a school.
The attorney general, Michael Daley, said the laws provided magistrates with more tools to deal with repeat offenders after a NSW police operation in which almost 300 knives were seized.
“The government is acting to address understandable community concern given the high-profile tragic events involving knives that we have seen in NSW over the last couple of years,” he said.
Daley added: “It’s about getting a message across to young blokes that carry knives that they shouldn’t do it.”
The NSW paramedic Steven Tougher was allegedly stabbed to death while on shift in April and a Service NSW worker was wounded in an alleged stabbing while at work in Sydney in May.
But despite the prominence of these cases and others, knife crime is at a 20-year low, according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
Bocsar’s executive director, Jackie Fitzgerald, said there was no indication knife-related crimes had spiked or the number of recording incidents was increasing.
“We have got the lowest volume of knife offences that we’ve seen in 20 years and that’s not even with an adjustment for population,” she said. “There’s not been any noticeable increase in knife crimes as far as the offences that have been recorded by police.”
The government’s plan would not make anyone safer in NSW, according to the Greens justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson.
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“These kneejerk law and order responses without an evidence base flies in the face of how we should be developing a criminal justice system,” she said. “There is no evidentiary basis that this law is commensurate to any of the current crime problems that we have in NSW. It’s not going to make anyone safe.”
She described the proposed changes as “dangerous” and “counter to the public interest”. The Greens will fight the legislation.
When asked if there was any research that had given the government an indication this intervention would make a difference, Daley said: “That is the perennial question about what effect does a penalty in a criminal code have on offending.”
The opposition leader, Mark Speakman, said there was community concern about knife crime and was concerned Labor’s approach was not taking a holistic approach.
“We’ll look at the bill and give it our earnest consideration because, like everyone in the community, we’re concerned about knife crime and [how] to tackle it,” he said.
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