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Crime in Victoria has surged to a level not seen in decades, prompting police to issue a strong message to offenders in the state.

Victoria Police recorded a staggering 638,640 offences in the 12 months to June 2025, an increase of 15.7 per cent – and a huge number of incidents involve stolen cars.

The state government hopes newly-introduced bail changes will soon curb the climbing crime rate.

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The number of criminal incidents has also jumped by 18 per cent to 483,583 – the largest number of incidents seen since statistics started being reported in 2004-2005.

The fastest-growing crime is car thefts, which skyrocketed by nearly 40 per cent, while family violence order breaches rose by 16.7 per cent.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Robert Hill said underage car thieves are contributing to the state's worst crime crisis in 20 years.

"We have young people driving at incredibly dangerous speeds, young people, inexperienced drivers themselves and community members at risk, our police members at risk trying to apprehend them," he said.

Victoria experienced a record 106,427 family violence incidents during this time.

Retail theft increased drastically by 41.8 per cent too.

The latest figures also revealed there are more prohibited and controlled weapons such as knives, tasers and knuckle dusters on the streets.

These bumper crime numbers have resulted in a rapid increase of victimisation rates.

There were 3956 reports of crime per 100,000 Victorians during the period.

More specifically, the number of person-related victim reports was up 18.0 per cent to 280,805.

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Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations Bob Hill said Victorians "simply cannot allow" the record levels of crime the state is facing.

"Every Victorian deserves to feel safe in their home, within the community and on the roads," he said.

"Victoria Police is tackling these issues head on. Our members are doing exceptional work to resolve these crimes.

"But it must be said – the number of arrests we are seeing reflects an unacceptable level of offending."

Police said the number of children offenders remains of "significant concern".

Young offenders are "overepresented" in serious and violent crimes including robberies and aggravated burglaries.

Almost 50 per cent (47.7) of all aggravated burglaries were pereptrated by children, police said.

Victoria Police also released key bail statistics this year following the state government's latest tranche of bail reforms.

A new bail test now applies to offenders out on bail who then commit serious crimes such as armed robbery or carjacking.

In theory, it increases the likelihood that bail is refused and aims to prevent reoffending.

And the second strike rule is targeted at individuals who are accused of repeat offending for more serious crimes, including assault, sex offences and serious drug offences.

This means the bail test for a repeat offender will be higher than it would be for a first-time offender.

"We're confident as our bail changes continue to wash through these statistical quarters, they will see an improvement in our outcomes here on crime in Victoria," Police Minister Anthony Carbines said.

The government has faced enormous pressure to keep the crime rate down.

"It's clear that more of the same is just not working," Shadow Police Minister David Southwick said.

"[The government] is doing nothing to wrestle the crime crisis that Victorians are all experiencing," Shadow Police Minister David Southwick said.

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The bail figures released today relate to bail decisions made across police and courts.

It found bail applications to the Magistrates' Court increased by 18.4 per cent over the past 12 months, which was driven by more bail refusals and revocations.

Unsentenced receptions to Youth Justice increased 35 per cent in the past 12 months.

However, this remains below the 10-year peak in 2020.

"This initial set of bail statistics collated from multiple agencies is a first step to helping us better understand the impacts of bail or remand decisions on an alleged offender's pathway through the criminal justice system and further offending," Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said.

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A major national music festival has broken its silence on why it quietly dropped rising singer d4vd from its star-studded lineup, days after human remains found in his Tesla were identified as a teenage girl who went missing last year.

Spilt Milk removed the artist from their website last week, around the same time as his remaining shows on his US tour and upcoming dates on d4vd's European tour were removed from ticketing websites. 

In a statement today, organisers confirmed d4vd will not perform at their event this year due to the "unfolding story" he has been linked to overseas.

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"Last week we removed d4vd from our website and marketing out of respect for the unfolding story," they said.

"We can now confirm d4vd will not perform at Spilt Milk and we are working on a replacement booking which we'll announce as soon as it's finalised." 

d4vd has also cancelled all his upcoming shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in December. 

Human remains were found inside a Tesla at a tow lot in Hollywood on September 8.

US media reported that the vehicle was registered to 20-year-old d4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office has since confirmed the "severely decomposed" remains belonged to 15-year-old Celeste Rivas.

"She appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found," officials said.

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Rivas was last seen in Lake Elsinore in April 2024, about 95 kilometres south-east of downtown Los Angeles.

She was 13 at the time. 

d4vd has not been arrested or charged over her disappearance or death, and his representatives have told NBC that he is cooperating with authorities.

The Houston-born artist, who shot to popularity after his hit song Romantic Homicide went viral on TikTok, had been on tour for his first album Withered when news of the human remains broke.

Spilt Milk's comments sections ahead of today's statement have been filled with fans questioning why d4vd was still on the line-up and whether he would be dumped. 

Spilt Milk is just months out from the start of their touring music festival, which will kick off in Ballarat on December 6, followed by Perth and Canberra, before finishing on the Gold Coast on December 14.

This year's music festival has gained quite a lot of buzz for its stellar line-up and features the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Doechii, Dominic Fike, Schoolboy Q, Skin on Skin and Sombr.

– With Associated Press

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Perth grandmother Donna Nelson will remain in a Japanese prison after losing her appeal to overturn a six-year drug trafficking sentence.

Last year a Japanese court found the 59-year-old guilty of smuggling almost two kilograms of methamphetamine hidden inside a suitcase.

Nelson has maintained her innocence and insisted she was the victim of an online romance scam.

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Nelson has been told she has 14 days to launch an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The judges in the Tokyo High Court took about 40 minutes today to hand down their decision, which upheld the original judgement.

They argued none of the defence arguments were valid as Nelson had raised complaints to her online lover in the past and it could not be said that she blindly trusted him.

They said the 59-year-old decided to comply with his requests to bring a suitcase to Tokyo's Narita Airport in January 2023.

Australian ambassador to Japan Justin Hayhurt was in the courtroom as the decision was handed down today.

"Australian officials have been supporting Ms Nelson and her family throughout this legal process and we will continue to provide that support," Hayhurt told 9News.

Last year Nelson was sentenced to six years behind bars.

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Police are questioning an Adelaide man after he led them on a pursuit which ended in a siege at a stranger's apartment in the city's eastern suburbs.

Vision obtained exclusively by 9News shows heavily armed police searching the apartment before arresting the 28-year-old man.

Police say the stranger was held hostage by the man.

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The man came to police's attention just after midnight when police were called after reports of a domestic disturbance between a man and a woman in a car on the Parade in Kensington Gardens.

The man allegedly tried to flee from police and led them on a car chase, where he nearly collided with a patrol car.

The chase went on through multiple suburbs until it ended up at Kiruna Avenue in Hove.

He allegedly dumped the car at the back of an apartment complex, entering the unit of a person he did not know.

"I'm not sure. I don't even know. I was in bed, I was in bed, I was asleep and they dragged me out of bed," the resident told 9News.

Subsequently, specialist police officers entered the apartment and tried to negotiate him to come outside so they could arrest him.

They were eventually able to arrest him, and he is expected to be charged with several offences later today.

The woman sustained no physical injuries, but was taken away by police for support.

National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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Shadow Home Affairs Minister Andrew Hastie has rejected "mischievous" suggestions that he does not support Liberal leader Sussan Ley after making several outspoken comments on policy positions in recent weeks.

Speaking on Nine radio station 2GB this morning, Hastie said his main concern was with stopping the fragmentation of the Liberal Party and claimed he was simply channelling the concerns and key issues Australians were facing.

"I support Sussan, anyone who's speculating otherwise is being mischievous," he told 2GB's Mark Levy.

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"My main concern is that the centre-right is fragmenting.

"We've seen the rise in the One Nation vote and other microparties, and having us fragmented on the right is very strategically advantageous for Labor.

"I'm simply saying what people out on the street are looking for in their political leadership… I believe that net zero is going to be a tragedy for our country.

"I believe that net overseas migration is far too high, and it's locking young Australians out of the housing market." 

https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/leadership-question-do-you-want-sussan-ley-or-andrew-hastie/embed?style=cover

Hastie has garnered headlines for posts on his social media accounts, including an Instagram post yesterday with a caption, "We're starting to feel like strangers in our own home", a thinly veiled critique on Australia's immigration policies.

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Hastie insists despite becoming more outspoken, it is not a sign of discontent or a wish to break away from the Liberal Party frontbench.

"I'm still on the team. I'm a team player," he said.

"I'm just being a little bolder in some of the policy positions that I think we should adopt."

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Hastie claimed the party needed to adapt to the modern era and needed to leave behind the previous mindset that had served it well in previous decades.

"A lot of people would like us to stay exactly where we are, including some people on our party side, but we can't," he said.

"The world has changed since the [John] Howard and [Peter] Costello years.

"We've had the global financial crisis, we've had Brexit, we've had the rise of Xi Jinping and China, we've had Trump, we've had the pandemic. 

"The world has changed, and we have to change with it."

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