By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
THE sister of late local doctor, Doctor Ashley Gordon says the family’s effort to bring about sweeping changes to the state’s bail laws are still “a work in progress”.
Natalie Gordon joined her family in state Parliament recently to table a petition in honour of their beloved brother and son.
Their petition, which asked for greater police powers for ‘stop and search’ scenarios and the dismissal of plans to raise the criminal age of responsibility to 14-years-old, was accepted in Parliament.
Dr Gordon’s life was tragically taken during a home invasion in Doncaster earlier this year, where one of the two teenagers charged with his murder was on bail at the time of the alleged crime.
Speaking with the Express, Natalie believes some of the petition’s proposals won’t come to fruition until at least February.
“There are some small (changes), it wasn’t 100 per cent what we were asking for but it is some small changes in line with what we were asking for,” Ms Gordon said.
“What we were asking for was… if you’re not doing anything wrong there should be no reason why they (the police) can’t stop and search you, and we’re also targeting youth offenders more so than adults because generally there is not adults walking around the streets at 5am carrying knives.
“What they have done is ease the rules around how police do that (stop and search).”
State Parliament has agreed to keep the age of criminal responsibility at 12-years-old rather than raise it to 14. The Gordon family had requested it to be lowered to 10 years of age.
The Bail Act itself has also been adjusted, making it more difficult for repeat offenders to be granted bail.
“They’ve adjusted it so if you commit a serious crime then you will not be granted bail again,” Ms Gordon said.
“The only issue with that is even those who are doing minor offenses are getting bailed 50 odd times; so we are still arguing with them a little bit about that. You just need to change the wording so it’s harder for magistrates to grant bail.
Adjustments are being made off the back of the Gordon family’s petition, however Ms Gordon doesn’t see much changing, as she believes the state government is more focussed on rehabilitation rather than stricter regulation for repeat offenders.
“While Labor is in government, I don’t think we will get much out of them to be honest,” she said.
“They are standing firm on the fact that we can rehabilitate these people and that throwing people in jail is not the answer, which I agree with them. I’m not saying that is the answer, but there are instances where they do need to be disciplined.”
The state government emphasised that the following action has taken place since the petition was tabled:
-Strengthened bail laws are now in effect;
-The ability of police for bail revocation for repeat offenders has been strengthened and clarified – with any offending or likely offending, or any serious breaches of bail conditions, grounds to seek revocation;
-Created a new separate offence for committing a serious crime – including aggravated burglary, carjacking, murder and rape – while on bail, and;
-Amend the Control of Weapons Act so police can conduct their searches more easily, for longer periods and in more situations.
“Our thoughts remain with the Gordon family during this difficult time,” a state government spokesperson said.
“The new Youth Justice Act addresses serious and repeat offending with a trial of electronic monitoring as well as intensive bail supervision.
“We’re also cracking down on knife crime – giving Victoria Police expanded knife search powers – and we’ve strengthened bail laws to make it crystal clear that those who pose a risk to community safety should not be granted bail.”
Reported crimes such as car theft, stealing from cars, house burglaries, assault and knife crime have continued to increase and escalate in the region.
In Latrobe, people aged 16 to 21 (who make up five per cent of the population) were perpetrators of 15 per cent of all offences committed between May 2023 and May 2024, totalling more than 2000.
The Gordon family’s petition received nearly 10,000 signatures, reinforcing feelings from the community that there was a clear issue with wrongdoers suffering little consequences, while victims and their families experienced the opposite.
In their long fight to see changes made, Ms Gordon sees her younger brother’s legacy living on.
“Initially I wasn’t really thinking about that, I was thinking I never want anyone else to be in my position,” she said.
“I’d never want anyone else to be in my parents’ position. So, initially I wanted to make a change where no other family has to go through this.
“But, Ash being who he was, his life goal was just to help people. I’ve definitely thought a number of times (that) this could be his legacy, this could be (something where) his life’s work isn’t over right now, it’s just that we have to continue it for him.
“He loved helping people, that’s why he became a doctor, he may not be able to help them medically anymore but hopefully we can help people with their safety.”
“We got a little bit of it our way (through the petition), it’s a fight that’s going to have to continue going and I’ll put my big girl shoes on and I’ll keep fighting until we hopefully get some change.”
