Two boys, aged 15 and 12, were fatally stabbed while walking home from a local basketball stadium in Cobblebank, west of Melbourne, on Saturday night — a killing that has intensified public criticism of Victoria’s recently introduced ban on machetes and related amnesty measures.
The pair, identified by family as 15-year-old Dau Akueng and a 12-year-old friend, were attacked by a trio armed with machetes and long-bladed knives, police said. Both suffered critical injuries and died within metres of each other. Victoria Police have indicated the assault was likely a case of mistaken identity.
The killings came about a week after the state government moved to tighten controls on long-bladed weapons, rolling out a fast-tracked interim sales ban on machetes and installing more than 40 safe-disposal amnesty boxes outside police stations. The ban, announced after a melee at Melbourne’s Northland Shopping Centre, makes it illegal to own, use, carry, transport or sell specified knives without an exemption or approval. Convictions can carry penalties of up to two years in jail or fines exceeding A$47,000.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines urged Victorians to hand in machetes during a three-month amnesty running until Nov. 30, saying the measures were intended to “dry up the supply” of such weapons. Premier Jacinta Allan has also urged parents to surrender weapons that belong to their children, noting authorities say children account for roughly 25 percent of knife-crime offenders in the state.
Victoria Police data cited by the state government showed a substantial volume of edged weapons removed from the community: 14,805 seized in 2024 and a further 8,900 confiscated between January and July of this year. Since May, a task force has completed 573 in-store and online inspections and carried out about 2,400 market stall inspections, the government said, reporting a high level of compliance with the sales restrictions.
The deaths have prompted anger and frustration on social media, with some users questioning the effectiveness of the ban and the amnesty boxes. "I saw this coming miles away. The only ones to benefit the machete ban is (Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan) and her mates who got $13million to build 40 metal bins," one post read. "To the Premier of Victoria, the machete and knife ban continues to work well. Two more kids dead and all you do is place boxes outside police stations," another wrote.
Family members disputed suggestions the attack was linked to gang activity. Dau Akueng’s father, Elbino Akueng, told the Herald Sun his son "is a basketball player, not a criminal," and rejected speculation that the boys were involved in gang violence. "I told the police last night that I need an answer for my son. My son is just gone...like this," he said.
Police have made no public suggestion that the victims were gang-affiliated and said inquiries are ongoing. Investigators are examining the circumstances of the attack and seeking witnesses and any available camera footage from the area about 33 kilometres west of Melbourne’s central business district.
The state’s interim measures include exemptions for agricultural workers and for machetes that have a demonstrable traditional, historical or cultural use. Authorities say the bans in Victoria are among the toughest in Australia; South Australia enacted a similar ban on machetes and swords in July.
The deaths in Cobblebank mark another grim episode in a broader debate over youth violence and weapon availability in Melbourne. Officials say enforcement activity has intensified even as critics call for broader action beyond disposal boxes and sales restrictions.
Daily Mail has contacted Premier Jacinta Allan for comment. Victoria Police asked anyone with information about the Cobblebank incident to contact Crime Stoppers or their local police station.