An electronic roadside sign in Mornington, southeast Melbourne, advising people to "lock your doors tonight" provoked public anger and renewed scrutiny of the state government’s response to a recent spike in violent crime.
The message was displayed on a police message board typically used to relay traffic information and safety alerts. It appeared online this week as debate intensified following the fatal machete attack on two schoolboys, Dau Akueng, 15, and Chol Achiek, 12, who were ambushed while walking home from a local basketball stadium in Cobblebank on Saturday.
Authorities have said investigators believe the youths who carried out the attack were angered by a meme referencing a young gang member who was killed late last year, and that neither of the boys targeted were members of a gang or connected to the earlier killing. The killings came a week after Victoria fast-tracked an interim ban on machete sales and announced a three-month amnesty that placed secure disposal bins outside police stations.
The sign and the deaths reignited debate about whether the government’s measures go far enough. Online reactions included calls for stronger policing and scepticism about whether a voluntary amnesty would remove weapons from people intent on using them. One social media comment read, "When Melbourne residents are told to 'lock your doors' like it's a war zone, you know Victoria is broken." Another said the machete amnesty amounted to little more than a gesture.
Premier Jacinta Allan has come under pressure from parts of the community to intensify enforcement following the Cobblebank attack. The cap put on machete sales and possession makes it an offence to own, use, carry, transport or sell knives without an exemption or valid approval; convictions can carry penalties of up to two years in jail or a fine of more than A$47,000.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines urged members of the community to hand in machetes during the three-month amnesty, which runs until Nov. 30. More than 40 secure disposal bins have been installed at police stations across the state to allow people to surrender edged weapons without penalty.
Victoria already has seen large numbers of edged weapons seized by police. Authorities reported that some 14,805 edged weapons were confiscated in 2024, and a further 8,900 were seized between January and July of the current year. Since May, a task force has carried out 573 in-store and online inspections and about 2,400 market stall inspections and found a high level of compliance with the ban, police said.
The machete restrictions include exemptions for agricultural workers who use such tools for their jobs and for weapons with genuine traditional, historical or cultural significance. Allan has urged parents to hand in machetes belonging to their children, saying young people account for about 25 percent of knife-crime offenders in the state.
The machete ban was expedited after an armed clash between rival groups at Northland Shopping Centre earlier this year raised public concern. Victoria’s measures are among the strictest in Australia, alongside a similar prohibition enacted in South Australia in July.
The Cobblebank homicides prompted renewed calls from residents for further action on youth violence and for greater clarity about how the state plans to reduce the incidence of deadly assaults. Officials have not released details of arrests or charges tied to the weekend attack while investigations continue.