On Wednesday morning, Sussan Ley flew into Melbourne on a mission: to sound the alarm on the city’s “out of control” crime crisis, flanked by two fellow non-Victorian members of her shadow cabinet – Queensland’s Andrew Wallace and New South Wales’ Julian Leeser.

In an op-ed for the Herald Sun, the federal opposition leader painted a grim picture of Melbourne, comparing it to the 1920s – a time, she wrote, the city was “overrun by crime and political violence”.

“Strikes turned ugly, gangs roamed the streets and ordinary citizens were forced to hire private guards to keep their families safe,” Ley wrote. “A century on, this echoes Victoria today.”

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The Liberal leader doubled down in appearances on the Today Show and at a press conference, declaring that

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