loading . . . Melbourneâs Crime Wave Warning to the West | Andrew Bushnell on Bail Reform, Immigration & Ideology In this in-depth conversation, Quilletteâs Iona Italia speaks with Andrew Bushnell about Melbourneâs dramatic surge in violent crime. From machete fights and carjackings to a failing bail system and ideological reforms, they explore how Victoriaâs criminal justice policiesâand wider political ideologyâhave contributed to the cityâs decline.
Andrew Bushnell is a writer, researcher, and policy analyst specialising in criminal justice, governance, and public policy. A former senior researcher at the Institute of Public Affairs, he has written extensively on bail reform, sentencing, and incarceration, and has worked closely with government and civil society on criminal justice reform in Australia. His work focuses on the intersection of law, ideology, and state capacityâparticularly how progressive policy experiments impact public safety and institutional integrity.
đ Topics discussed include:
The rise of violent youth crime in Melbourne
How bail reform and âcompassionateâ justice policies backfired
Ethnicity, gang violence, and the failure to collect demographic crime data
The role of mass immigration and housing densification in rising crime
Why political ideology is undermining state capacity
Broader implications for Australia and the West
đ Drawing on data, political analysis, and first-hand policy experience, Bushnell offers a sobering but essential account of what happens when ideology overrides public safety.
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#Melbourne #CrimeWave #CriminalJustice #AndrewBushnell #AustraliaPolitics #Immigration #BailReform #Quillette #IonaItalia #UrbanDecline #MacheteCrime
00:00 Melbourne's Crime Surge: An Overview
04:29 Policy Changes and Their Impact on Crime
10:53 Densification and Its Consequences
13:47 Understanding Crime: Fear vs. Anger
19:09 The Ideological Underpinnings of Crime Policy
23:38 The Demographics of Crime in Melbourne
28:37 Ideological Influences on Crime and Justice
30:26 The Importance of Accurate Crime Data
32:01 Needs-Based Policing and Community Safety
34:24 Demographic Changes and Immigration Policy
38:23 Affordability and Immigration in Australia
42:34 Reforming Criminal Justice: A Return to Basics
47:39 The Complexity of Incarceration Rates
51:58 Transformative Change in Criminal Justice
55:00 Understanding Crime as a Reflection of Broader Issues
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Quillette is an Australian-based online magazine that focuses on long-form analysis and cultural commentary. It is politically non-partisan, but relies on reason, science, and humanism as its guiding values.
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Quillette has gained attention for publishing articles and essays that challenge modern orthodoxy on a variety of topics, including gender and sexuality, race and identity politics, and free speech and censorship.
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