Victorian Liberal Leader Brad Battin was on holiday in Queensland when the Labor government unveiled tougher bail laws last week to quell rising community anxiety after youth crime offences in Victoria hit a 15-year high.
The reforms, to be introduced to parliament on Tuesday, include scrapping remand as a last resort for accused youth offenders and denying bail to those accused of committing a serious offence.
When asked by reporters on Saturday Mr Battin said he was on a pre-planned holiday in Brisbane, visiting his parents who were impacted by the cyclone but failed to mention his four-day cruise.
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny lashed the opposition leader for "living it up on a cruise".
"Holiday time is over. Mr Battin and his colleagues won't be going home from parliament this week until Labor's tough bail bill is passed," she said on Tuesday.
Mr Battin said he wasn't trying to be evasive about his holiday.
"I could have been more upfront with it. It wouldn't have been as big a story as it is today. I have to take a lesson from that," he told reporters on Tuesday.
"Was it poor judgment? I wasn't aware that the Allan Labor government were going to be introducing laws last week, or any policy last week."
He denied it was his "ScoMo moment", a reference to when former prime minister Scott Morrison was widely condemned for holidaying in Hawaii while bushfires burnt across the nation in 2019.
Former Victorian Liberal leaders Matthew Guy and John Pesutto said MPs were entitled to a holiday and he didn't think Mr Battin deserved the same criticism as Mr Morrison.
Human rights and youth advocates will hold a snap rally outside parliament on Tuesday to protest the proposed bail changes.
Victorian Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People Meena Singh said the changes wouldn't reduce crime.
The earlier children entered the criminal legal system, the more likely they were to remain engaged in the system, she said.
Leaders needed to instead implement responses targeting the reasons why children offend, including addressing their mental health and disability needs, along with disengagement from education, she said.
"What we need to also see is that when we are bailing children and young people, that they're getting access to the resources and the supports that they need," she told ABC radio.
