Lidia Thorpe joins critics of ‘outrageous’ expansion of police search powers in Melbourne as premier defends move | Australian police and policing

Independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe has criticized police’s decision to extend search powers in inner Melbourne for six months, calling the move “outrageous” and saying it would likely lead to racial profiling.

Victoria police on Tuesday declared the CBD, along with Docklands, Southbank, sports and entertainment precinct, East Melbourne and South Melbourne, a “designated area” from Sunday until May 29, 2026.

This means that police and protective services officers (PSOs) have the ability to randomly stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable justification. Vehicles can also be searched.

The declaration was immediately met with criticism from human rights and legal groups, including Inner Melbourne Community Legal, which was said to be unprecedented in both its geographical scope and the period for which it was intended to apply.

Victorian premier Jacinta Allan defended the six-month declaration on Wednesday, saying it was consistent with new chief commissioner Mike Bush’s plan to increase police visibility and reduce serious and violent crime by 5% a year.

_{Sign up: AÜ Breaking News email}

But Thorpe told ABC Radio Melbourne on Wednesday that First Nations people and other minority groups could be targeted by police as a result.

“This is outrageous. This is unprecedented police powers. And I think Jacinta Allan is throwing us all under the bus,” Thorpe said.

He claimed police racial profiling was “a huge problem in Victoria”, pointing to research published on Monday by the Center Against Racial Profiling. The research, based on data obtained from Victoria police under freedom of information laws, found that people perceived by police as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander were 15 times more likely to be searched than white people in 2024, but were less likely to be found with banned items.

It also found that members of the African community were eight times more likely to be searched by police than white people, but were also less likely to be found in possession of prohibited items.

“If you have black or brown skin, then you’re going to be targeted more by the police than any white person who isn’t black or brown,” Thorpe said.

“I’ve talked to many mothers and grandmothers who are afraid to take their children, brothers or uncles out just because of their skin colour.

“This is nothing more than a desperate, desperate approach to winning racist votes.”

A police spokesman on Wednesday reiterated that the force has “zero tolerance for racial profiling” and that officers are “well trained to police a person based on their behaviour, not their background”.

Police also released an image of the weapons seized during a three-day designated area operation in the city earlier this year.

They said 47 weapons, including baseball bats, knuckle dusters, machetes and Stanley knives, were found “on different people” during wand searches “in which people were asked to remove items from their pockets and bags and search them”.

“Arms search operations in the CBD earlier this year led to the seizure of a significant number of edged weapons, preventing harm to the community,” the spokesman said.

“To declare a designated area, there must either be an extensive history of gun-related crime in the area or police intelligence showing that this measure will prevent potential crime.”

Allan said “rigorous surveillance measures” were in place to investigate allegations of racial profiling.

“This action by Victoria Police focuses on keeping everyone who comes into the city safe, which I believe is a right that everyone entering and exiting the city deserves,” Allan said.