Victoria's Bold Move: Tackling Knife Crime with Machete Bins

In a surprising move, Victoria, an Australian state, is taking a hard stance against knife crime. They've set up special bins at police stations for people to hand in their machetes. This is all part of a new law that will make it illegal to own, carry, or sell machetes starting September 1.

Amnesty Period and Penalties

From September 1 to November 30, people can give up their machetes without any penalties. But if they don't, they could face serious consequences. We're talking:

• Up to two years in prison
• A fine of over $47,000 AUD

Government's Stance

The government says these knives are dangerous and ruin lives. They want to get them off the streets to keep people safe. Police have already been seizing a lot of illegal knives. On average, they're taking at least 44 knives a day.

Exemptions and Rules

Not everyone will be affected by this new law. People who use machetes for their jobs, like farmers, or for cultural reasons, can still keep them. But they have to:

• Follow strict rules
• Be ready to prove they're allowed to have them

Previous Actions

This isn't the first time Victoria has taken action against machetes. They already made it temporarily illegal to sell them. This led to big companies like Amazon stopping machete sales on their website.