An aboriginal teenager has been killed in a suspected machete attack in the town of Morwell, Victoria.
Kaiden Morgan, 18, was found suffering serious injuries on The Boulevard at about 10.25pm on Saturday night, and another 20-year-old man was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries after being discovered on a nearby street.
Mr Morgan suffered several stab wounds and is believed to have known his attackers, the Herald Sun reported.
Homicide detectives are now investigating his death, and police on Sunday arrested a 19-year-old man from Traralgon, and a 16-year-old boy from the La Trobe area. Both are in custody where they will be interviewed.
Family friend Jordan Banks said Mr Morgan, who was part of an indigenous dance troupe, was “a troubled kid” but “headed on a path to greatness”.
“He did wonders for the aboriginal community,” he said,
“(He) loved his culture and wanted to show the world. What happened was not deserved.”
Mr Banks blamed the state’s Labor government, which banned machetes earlier this year, for not doing enough to keep violent criminals locked up.
“The government needs to wake up and stop letting these kids out on bail to reoffend,” he said.
The killing is just the latest in a spate of alleged machete attacks, most involving African gangs in Melbourne, that have rocked Victoria since the ban.
Official statistics released last week showed a 15.7% increase in criminal offences in Victoria in the year to June 2025, with a 13.8% increase in the overall crime rate to the highest level recorded – 8,998.9 offences per 100,000 people.
There was also a 21.7% increase in aggravated home burglaries, a 42.1% increase in motor vehicle theft, and alleged offender incidents with an “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status” increased 31.7%.
Those aged 10 to 17 were 12.8% of all offenders processed, but responsible for 62.2% of robberies, 47.7% of aggravated burglaries and 26.4% of car theft, while police said 1,128 offenders were arrested a combined 7,118 times.
“There were 149 less child offenders in the reporting period, indicating that repeat offenders are driving the arrest numbers,” police said.
Header image: Kaiden Morgan (supplied).
