Crime is the punishment for a premier stuck in a law-and-order arms race

September 24, 2026 — 5:00am

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At a press conference in the level-nine garden at NSW parliament last week, Attorney-General Michael Daley was forced to pause as he shuffled through a thick stack of papers searching for an answer in one of the many, many crime bills his government is currently pushing through.

Who can blame him? The spate of Sydney shootings linked to organised crime has prompted a rush of legislation from Labor.

There have been two tranches in the current sitting, including laws under which kids who are recruited by organised crime to carry out gang shootings and firebombings will face adult sentences, powers allowing police to force people to hand over digital devices they suspect are associated with organised crime, and expanded Serious Crime Prevention Orders allowing police to immediately restrict a high-risk suspect’s movements via an interim court order.

That is by no means an exhaustive list of the changes currently before parliament, nor are they the only changes the government has made. There have been laws making it harder for children to receive bail for break and enter offences, permanent knife “wanding” powers that allow officers to use handheld electronic metal-detecting scanners to conduct random searches at train stations, and even laws empowering........

© The Sydney Morning Herald