‘Changing the justice system’: Victorian Liberal Brad Battin goes from tough on crime to keeping people out of jail

‘We shouldn’t put people in jail if we don’t need to’: Victorian Liberal criminal justice reform spokesperson Brad Battin. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian

After years of tough-on-crime policies being pushed by the Victorian Coalition, Liberal MP Brad Battin is pursuing a different goal: using money currently spent locking people up to keep them out of prison.

After his appointment as the opposition’s criminal justice reform spokesperson, Battin – who worked in prisons and later became a police officer before entering politics – said it was possible to prioritise community safety while also finding alternative punishments for people who should not be in jail.