PORT AUGUSTA GANGS

The Hon. G.M. GUNN (Stuart) (14:46): Can the minister representing the Minister for Police give an assurance to the house that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure the safety of the people at Port Augusta so that they can be protected against gangs who have viciously assaulted people and have no regard for the law. I will quote from the front page of this week's local edition of TheTranscontinental under the heading 'Almost bashed to death', as follows:

A Port Augusta ,man 45, and a Port Lincoln man 44, were walking from a party on Taylor Crescent at about 3am when a group of eight Aboriginal men attacked them on Chinnery Street.

The Port Augusta father of three was airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with serious head injuries...

Further, a letter to the editor states:

The two people who were bludgeoned within an inch of their life were two innocent men, one a local tradesman, the other a friend of his visiting from out of town. They did nothing to deserve what happened to them. They simply were doing what most of us are too scared to do and that was walk in this town in the middle of the night. They were attacked by a group of Aboriginals, some of whom were probably not even old enough to be out at that time of night, armed with an array of weapons, from as sticks and pieces of concrete. Were they not interrupted by a friend of the two who was taking partygoers home, we most certainly would be making funeral arrangements for them today.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon—Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:47): This is a very important matter, and I shall get a report from the Commissioner about it.