An under-fire state government says it didn't dismiss a three-strike bail policy suggested by its sacked top cop because of penny-pinching.
The Victorian government has been under pressure over mounting community anger on crime, including aggravated burglaries and car thefts.
Premier Jacinta Allan pulled the trigger on a law review in early 2025 led by Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny and Police Minister Anthony Carbines.
Former Victoria Police chief commissioner Shane Patton presented a seven-point bail plan to government about two weeks before he was sacked, The Herald Sun reports.
The plan, which included a three-time maximum for bail and then mandatory remand, was reportedly submitted to the justice department secretary who "pushed back" over prison cash concerns.
Victorian minister Steve Dimopoulos categorically rejected the claim, declaring the government had never rejected advice from police on the basis of cost.
"That is ridiculous," he told reporters on Tuesday.
"We've never not accepted police advice based on cost.
"That's incorrect."
A cabinet meeting on Tuesday was expected to discuss plans to raise the threshold for granting bail for serious crimes.
Mr Dimopoulos said there had already been discussions in the lead-up but changes would not be announced later in the day.
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 Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson's 2020 death in her cell after she was refused bail on a charge of breaching bail and suspicion of shoplifting.
Laws were subsequently enacted in March 2024 to make it easier for low-level offenders to get bail, with the offences of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail and breaching a condition of bail abolished.
Mr Patton was pushed out as chief commissioner on February 16 following a union-led vote of no confidence of rank-and-file officers.
Deputy commissioner Neil Paterson followed him out the door after being told by acting top cop Rick Nugent that his contract would not be renewed.
Both are believed to have expressed opposition to previous law reforms.
Shadow attorney-general Michael O'Brien said the 2024 bail changes had been exploited by criminals.
He argued Mr Patton's solution was a start but the state must go much further, including tougher bail tests for all those accused of serious offences.
Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria director of policy, Lee Carnie raised concerns about rushing to change the bail laws before their full impact was understood.
"Rushed laws that reform bail without looking at the drivers and causes of what is driving up crime rates run the risk of not tackling the core problems and causing further injustice," they told AAP.
Law Institute of Victoria director of policy Donna Cooper also said it was important not to rush new laws in.
While Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Wright said the government needed to remember that locking up children was not a complete solution.
"We know that the earlier a child enters youth justice, the more likely they will continue in a cycle of offending," she said.
