Victorian Attorney-General Martin Pakula has hit out at "selective and inflammatory interventions by federal ministers" over the handling of youth gang crime in Melbourne.
The Victorian government on Tuesday introduced legislation granting police powers to issue "unlawful association" notices to children to stop them mixing with gang members.
Children as young as 14 could be fined or face jail time if they are caught breaching the notices, in an effort to stop kids being lured into organised criminal gangs.
The changes come amid a war of words between the state government and federal MPs, including Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who has blamed weak bail laws for the rise of Sudanese youth gangs.
Mr Pakula dismissed suggestions Victoria was reacting to pressure from Canberra, saying the laws were announced in February and always slated for introduction this week.
"They've made lots of assertions which are inaccurate, including the assertion that Victoria is in denial," he told ABC radio on Wednesday.
"Nobody in the Victorian government ever denied there was an issue in this area, and that's why we have a gang task force, that's why we've made youth justice changes."
Mr Pakula rejected Mr Dutton's criticism of Victorian bail laws.
"We've had two tranches of bail law changes which have made our bail laws the most stringent in the country, and he seems to have either ignored that or he's not aware of that," he said.
