Glenorchy Mayor Sue Hickey has welcomed the decision by Coles to stop selling kitchen knives in its supermarkets and has urged other retailers to take note given the potential for knife crime.
“It is extremely unfortunate that it took a knife attack on an employee in Queensland before this action was taken, but I think this is a move which will help keep communities safer.
“It is no doubt extremely regrettable that shops cannot stock and sell items such as kitchen knives without fear they will be misused, but the fact that there are people who have little regard for the law means there is little choice but to simply keep these items away from those who would seek to cause harm.
“Only recently I wrote to the manager of a Coles supermarket in Glenorchy concerned that it had a prominent knife display as part of a promotion not far from the store’s entry and exit which I felt posed an unnecessary risk in terms of encouraging opportunistic knife crime.
“I understand that these are common household items, but that is no reason to have our community exposed to increased knife crime risks. I think any retailer who stocks knives, particularly where they can be easily accessed, should take note of the decision by Coles to take knives out of the store.
“We are all too aware of cases where criminals have used knives in attacks against people in retail outlets. Removing spur-of-the-moment temptation for such crimes must be a priority.
“My thoughts are with the woman attacked in Queensland, and I thank Coles for making a decision which will prevent something like this happening in our community,” she said.
Mayor Hickey said she also welcomed the State Government’s announcement of an extension of a trial for Tasmania Police to use non-invasive searches with metal detectors to crack down on people carrying knives.
“I think the sooner this trial ends and it becomes a normal procedure the better.
“We all know knife crime is increasing, and giving police permanent powers to search people and potentially confiscate what can be lethal weapons is an important step in keeping our communities safe,” she said.