Increased police search powers might have prevented the random stabbing of a woman in Melbourne’s CBD two weeks ago, according to Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin.

Standing at the site of where Wan Lai, 36, was stabbed as she walked towards work on Little Bourke Street on October 2, Battin on Friday brandished a metal-detecting wand of the type he has pledged to introduce as part of increased police powers if elected next year.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin with a metal-detecting wand used by police in Queensland. Credit: Alex Coppel

The so-called Jack’s Law – introduced in Queensland in 2023 following the stabbing death of Jack Beasley in 2019 – would give police the power to use metal detectors to search people anywhere in the state where knife crime is considered a ris

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