Answers to a social media mystery about the Victorian government’s amnesty bins for machetes, which have been the subject of wild misinformation about their cost, can be traced to private prisons and a $925,000 contract.

In March Premier Jacinta Allan announced a ban on machetes and a three-month amnesty for Victorians to dispose of the weapons in 45 bins outside select police stations, from September 1 to November 30.

Premier Jacinta Allan views one of the new machete amnesty bins earlier this year. Credit: Jason South

The opposition seized on the $13 million program to claim each bin was costing more than $300,000, ignoring that the total cost included a public awareness campaign and cataloguing and destruction of the weapons. That’s despite calling for the machete ban before the

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