Larry Williams Drive

So it looks like, on paper at least, that this is a big win for the Government's crackdown on crime. Violent crime is down for the first time in five years - sure, it's only by two percent, but at least it's not going up.  2019 - up. 2020 - up. 2021, 2022, 2023 - up, up up. 2024 - down.  And over those five years of increase, violence went up 51 percent. You basically had to just walk down the street and you'd get punched in the eye. Mark Mitchell and Paul Goldsmith have fired off press releases quicker than a Chinese warship in the Tasman about this, they're crowing and beating their chests, they're very happy. And you can see why - serious assaults have come down, injuries have reduced, ram raids are down massively, total victimisations are down as well. And here's the kicker - guess what else has changed at the same time? The prison population has just hit its highest level since 2018. Police foot patrols are up 40 percent. So it's almost like - if more bad people are in prison, they're not punch