Today, Labor is announcing another policy as we continue to lead, while the Liberals fight amongst themselves and flip flop.

Tasmania needs to get tough on knife crime.

We will give police the power to use handheld scanners to detect the unlawful possession of knives in select public locations – as championed by advocate Laraine Ludwig whose son Reid was killed in a random knife attack in 2019.

No parent should have to suffer the loss of a child and this policy aims to protect all Tasmanians in honour of Reid Ludwig.

In Tasmania, knives are the most common weapon used in crimes. 160 offences were committed last year against people involving knives – much higher than any other type of weapon, and far exceeding offences against people involving firearms. This equates to approximately three knife crimes a week, including assaults, robberies, sexual assaults, and murder. 

We’ve spoken to too many Tasmanians who aren’t comfortable going about their day-to-day business with the level of knife-crime in our community.

We need to make Tasmania safe again.

We also want our cities and night precincts to thrive, and that means giving business owners and the public the confidence they will be safe.

It’s disappointing that Minister for Police Felix Ellis has failed to commit to stamping out knife crime through the introduction of handheld knife scanners.

Just like Labor has led the way when it comes to jobs and development this past month, we’ll also lead the way when it comes to getting tough on knife crime.

Dean Winter MP
Labor Leader

Jen Butler MP
Shadow Minister for Police, Fire & Emergency Management