Bail offences dumped after a coronial inquest into the death of Aboriginal woman Veronica Nelson could be revived as part of a controversial review.
Aboriginal, legal and human rights groups have hit out at the Victorian government after Premier Jacinta Allan announced a "premature" probe into bail laws.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines, tasked with running the ruler over the bail regime with Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny, said it had become a "merry-go-round" for repeat offenders.
"They get bailed time and again," he told reporters in a 30-minute grilling at state parliament on Wednesday.
"We need to deal with those people who don't respect the courts and don’t respect the opportunities they get and their freedom."
Victoria tightened bail laws in 2018 after James Gargasoulas drove into Melbourne's busy Bourke Street Mall in 2017 while on bail, killing six people and injuring dozens more.
The changes were found to be a "complete and unmitigated disaster" in a coronial inquest into Ms Nelson's 2020 death in her cell after she was refused bail on a charge of breaching bail and suspicion of shoplifting.
The offences of "breaching bail conditions" and "committing further offences while on bail" were scrapped in 2023 in direct response to disproportionately hurting on women, children and Aboriginal people.
While suggesting he was not interested in "chasing shoplifters", Mr Carbines indicated the government would consider re-establishing those bail offences.
"Everything is on the table here," he said.
"It's not just about bail, there are a range of justice policies that we'll give consideration to.
"But clearly with regards to bail there's no doubt there needs to continue to be consequences for those who don't respect and seek to breach their bail conditions.
Mr Carbines previously acknowledged the coroner's findings when introducing the reforms to parliament in 2023, conceding the "net was cast too wide".
The minister was confronted with his past comments and that the reason the offences were scrapped stemmed from the coronial finding on their disproportionate impacts.
"No. I don't accept that," he said.
"I don't accept ... simply saying that 'Oh, there's a catch-all, that somehow people who break the law that that's okay'.
"There are processes, there are protections that were not effective ... but that is not a free-for-all for people who break the law."
Mr Carbines also suggested the work he was doing did not amount to a formal review and would not include terms of reference, directly contradicting Ms Allan's remarks.
"I wouldn't say there's particularly a review," he said.
"We're always working on what more we can do to keep the community safe."
Shadow attorney-general Michael O'Brien said the minister's comments appeared to show he was at odds with Ms Allan and called the process a "political smokescreen".
"They don't even understand what this bail review is all about," he said.
"It's not a review driven by protecting the community, it's a review driven by polls and politics and panic."
The premier rejected that she and the minister weren't on the same page and continued to refuse to rule in or out certain policy changes, despite Mr Carbines declaring he had "plenty of stuff in the bottom drawer".
"The police minister is ready to go," she said.
First Peoples’ Assembly co-chair Rueben Berg labelled the review premature and said it was hard not to question if there were underlying political motivations.
“We’ve seen the damage knee-jerk reactions to bail reform can have to our community,” he said.
The Law Institute of Victoria and Human Rights Law Centre also flagged concerns the review was giving into fear-mongering and the most recent changes had not had time to take affect.
Victoria Police and the police union declined to comment.
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