Peter Dutton was widely ridiculed when, as Minister for Home Affairs, he claimed in 2018 that Victoria’s youth crime problem meant people were living in fear and “scared to go out to restaurants at night”.Dutton’s comments were politically calculated to alarm voters about crime. But fast forward to today, and the scale of Victoria’s law and order crisis is indisputable. An entrenched pattern of lawlessness has extended to a spate of firebombings and arson attacks linked to the illegal liquor trade at restaurants and hospitality venues across Melbourne.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles