Bonus: Northland Shopping Centre Witness Shares Their Story

Let's talk breaking news that's just come through this morning off the back of the Northland shopping Center going into lockdown because of the.

Machete attack yesterday. Terrible scene just center.

Allen, the Premier has spoken this morning finally announcing when we're going to be taking these machetes off the shelves.

We announced in March that we would be moving quickly and safely to bring about Australia's first machete ban. This comes also off the work that has been done to provide Victoria Police with expanded knife search powers, which has seen a record number of these dangerous weapons being seized and taken off the streets by Victoria Police.

Quick enough.

Well, to be fair, it's Australia's first ban, likes in, it's a first juristic, first jurisdiction in Australia.

To I get that, But to be so happy it should be nationwide.

Why Victoria's first date? Well that's yeah, Well I don't know, but what the point she was making was that Victoria's a first date in Australia.

Get that?

Now?

Do I mean you need to put ourselves on the back for that?

No, exactly right. I think all the states should be following suit. I think it should be something we should have done a long time ago.

Yeah. What I would say is it's from Wednesday, So from Wednesday this week, it'll be illegal to sell machetes in store.

Oh great, we'll give them notes to run out and buy them.

Is it currently legal to sell them?

Yeah?

Yeah, fishing stores don't even go into it. You know, But like it's just.

And what happens Are they changed? They making them rule stricter for people who are caught with them, do we know?

Well?

Yeah, the knife crime wars have been have been tightened apparently.

The thing it annoys me is they say they've been working on it and they obviously fast tracked it on the weekend because of what went down at the north Land shopping Center. It's like, why do we have to wait for these things to happen for us to then go all right, quick, let's do it three days.

Well, look, hopefully this is a positive step.

Forward because it was crazy scenes. I don't know if you guys saw ity the footage on the news last night. Peena is one of our listeners.

She was there good.

Morning, morning morning at Norland.

Yeah, so throwing a very scary experience. So it was about two thirty in the afternoon and I was going into Northland via the came Out entrance, and as I was going in, there were like big crowds of people at the entrance, and as I was going, you know, further into the shopping center, there was more people. I thought,

What's going on?

I said, what's happening to What's happened? They go knife nice stabbing, They're stabbing everyone there. I got shit the panic and you just look on people's faces and I just turned around bolted And as I was getting to the car, you know, you see families. There's a family holding their child in their arms, running with the fram the sheer panics. They don't know what's going on, but you know you hear this. So got in my car, locked myself in, but I couldn't get out because it's

Imagine the chaos, just.

Like two hours two. I didn't get out until four thirty. Could not get out. There was just cars all around me.

Was there coming in Peanut So? Was there any alarms or sirens.

Telling you to stay where you are?

No? So, just before the police arrived, we heard people like there was like an overspeaker announcement, you know, please, you know, calmly, no, not even evacuate, please calmly leave the shopping center and everything. Then I see the police come. Then I saw the SWAT team come, you know, all get it up and.

Oh my god, what did you feel vulnerable waiting in your car?

Oh gosh it. Yeah. I got in my car. I locked myself in and I just cried. I cried tears. I rang my husband, I rang my fame and go and comes so scared. I don't know what's happening. And I was only like two cars parked away from that entrance, so who knows. I mean, at one point that's running in saying stop, please, stop please, and they're going up to the above it and I didn't know what's happening on my car.

It's still so emotional today, it's really talking.

About it, but just to look on people's faces and just the chaos.

I think it's knowledge is power and not knowing what's going on.

That's the scary, especially because we've seen things like this happen before.

Well, I think that's where my mind instantly went to was the Machelle attack in Sydney.

Everybody would think that and you just don't know how bad it is, and it's it's it's overwhelming and it's scary to be in that situation. And Peter, I'm so sorry you were caught up in it. There were hundreds of people caught up in this over the weekend in Melbourne and it seems we never want to see.

Hey, thanks for jumping on this morning, mate, take.

Take care of it yourself, I will think.

Thanks Peena.

I feel for everyone who witnessed that yesterday because that sort of stuff stays with you.

Yeah, it's scary.

We're having a debate off the air earlier about security guards in shopping centers and whether they should be armed at least with like pepper spray or tasers.

Yeah, you're strongly against a clip.

Absolutely not, you can't have it. But then we're cute, Well, because you can't have a private security guard armed taking matters making that judgment, call that a police or or a pso you know a sworn member should be making you can't have a private security guard.

Well, then why don't we look at the way we choose our security guards and the courses they.

Go through shopping center make it more strict that So then otherwise what's the point.

The only point, The only way to do it is to have sworn member as PSOs or police officers, public safety safety officer and they're sworn members.

Well, then let's make it that shopping centers now have to have.

But you're not like, jeez, it's a slippery slate, letting, letting, but letting a security officer, a security security guard make that on the spot call.

I get frustrated this argument because what's the point in them being there at the moment? Then why are they're there?

Well, they're they're patrolling, and what are they going to do. They can't do anything.

I just don't want security guards armed with.

I agree and those weapons shouldn't be handed out willy nilly. But perhaps we need to step up the security in terms of PSOs in shopping centers and these these high traffic areas.

Well from Wednesday.

It was just announce in the last ten minutes machetes will be illegal to buy from Wednesday here in Victoria and hopefully the rest of the country follows.

Suits wake feeling good, follow them on the socials.

Yeah,