$13m
Budgeted for Victoria's machete ban, including about 45 disposal bins
The $13 million machete ban: what the money actually pays for
Victoria set aside $13 million for its machete ban and amnesty bins. The bins cost about $2,400 each. The government still hasn't said where the rest of the money goes.
Aussie Outrage · · 2 min read
The 2025-26 Victorian budget set aside $13 million to bring in the state's machete ban. The most visible part of it was about 45 steel disposal bins, set up outside police stations so people could hand in machetes anonymously during a three-month amnesty.
What the bins cost
A claim went viral that each bin cost $325,000. It came from dividing the $13 million by the number of bins, and AAP FactCheck rated it false. The government told AAP each bin cost about $2,400, which AAP found was in line with the online price of a steel charity bin from a Victorian maker.
The bins are a small part of the $13 million
Thousands of dollars
About 45 bins at about $2,400 each
$108kRest of the $13 million
$12,892k
Source: AAP FactCheck, 2025; Victorian government figure of about $2,400 per bin
Show the data
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| About 45 bins at about $2,400 each | $108k |
| Rest of the $13 million | $12,892k |
So the bins come to roughly $108,000. That leaves almost $12.9 million for everything else.
Where the rest goes
In Parliament, Acting Speaker Daniela De Martino said: "The entire project, that $13 million, includes public awareness, retailer education, manufacturing and installation."
What the government hasn't done is say how the money is split. AAP asked for a breakdown and didn't get one. Some parts of the program, including destroying the surrendered machetes, hadn't happened yet, so the final cost is still unknown.
The Nationals' Melina Bath called the spending an expensive stunt to manage bad headlines.
Why it matters
Nobody is arguing the bins themselves were expensive. The problem is the other $12.9 million: a public program with a $13 million budget and no published breakdown of what it bought.
Your share: $13 million works out to about $1.90 for every Victorian.
Top photo: a machete amnesty disposal bin outside the Echuca police station, November 2025. Photo: Alison Newman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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