Attorney-General Robert Clark has made the most of it, telling the media at every opportunity that the previous Labor government’s softer approach had led to lower police numbers, a flawed parole system, not enough prison beds and weak sentencing laws.

While there is some truth in what he says, Mr Clark would know that things are never that simple and the justice system is a particularly complex beast.

A key part of the Coalition’s reform of crime and punishment is the abolition of suspended sentences which will be completely gone by the end of this year.

The theory behind the move is that judges and magistrates will be forced to impose sentences that mean something instead of pretending to send an offender to jail when he or she actually walks free. It sounds like commonsense and it will appease those in the community who subscribe to the simplistic “do the crime, do the time’’ approach to law and order.

But the fact is the abolition of suspended sentencing will probably create more problems than it solves.

Corrections Victoria and the prison system as a whole is struggling to cope already. Overcrowding in jails, shipping containers being used as makeshift prisons are desperate measures that have been taken as Band-Aid solutions to a growing crisis that the abolition of suspended sentences will only make worse.

The impact will be felt in the broader community with extra strain being put on prosecution services, legal aid funding and support service providers.

Suspended sentences provide courts with the means to acknowledge the seriousness of a crime but give an offender a better chance of effective rehabilitation than a prison term might allow.

Many factors contribute to crime — mental illness, drug and alcohol health issues or lack of education or employment. 

A one-size-fits-all approach might please the voters, but it makes for a less sophisticated criminal justice system with fewer options.