This morning, Central Coast Labor MPs voted against stronger knife wanding powers for NSW Police, preventing them from conducting knife wanding operations anywhere, anytime.
The NSW Liberals moved an amendment in the Legislative Assembly which would have removed the bureaucratic requirement for police to make a formal declaration before commencing a knife wanding operation.
Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch has criticised the local Labor MPs, saying they had let down the Central Coast community.
“Unfortunately, we are continuing to see an alarming rise in knife crime across our region and our community is rightfully scared, and the Minns Labor Government are refusing to listen to the community’s concerns on this issue,” said Mr Crouch
“The recent successful knife wanding exercise undertaken in Gosford also highlights the risks posed to the general public by those who think it is perfectly acceptable to carry concealed knives in public places.”
“Unfortunately, this safety issue has been completely disregarded by our local Labor MPs who voted against our commonsense legislation to enable knife wanding anywhere and anytime.”
The proposed amendments to strengthen the laws would retain the existing safeguards governing the exercise of the laws, including requirements for police to identify themselves and explain the search.