House of Assembly: Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Contents

POLICE ATTENDANCE PROCEDURE

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:47): My question is again to the Premier. Following the tragic events of the weekend at Callington, will the Premier order an independent review—that is, not a Police Commissioner or police review but an independent review—of the government's management of the emergency police phone system? I just think it needs to be independent to be properly assessed.

The Hon. K.O. Foley interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs REDMOND: I didn't say that at all.

The Hon. K.O. Foley interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs REDMOND: I didn't say that at all. I said that it needs to be independent—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs REDMOND: —so that we can be satisfied that people will be safe in their homes.

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader, you have asked your question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister.

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee—Minister for Police, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:48): Unlike the opposition, this government has complete confidence in the Police Commissioner and also in the South Australian police force. What the commissioner did yesterday, at the very first opportunity—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT: —was to acknowledge that there was an error of judgment, as I have previously explained, as a result of the call to 131444. The caller put in a police incident report but did not pass that information on to the communications centre, which would have triggered a police patrol going out. The Police Commissioner yesterday came forward with that information at the very first opportunity.

In addition, he also announced yesterday that a comprehensive review would be undertaken of this particular incident and that that review would look at things such as training, policy, operating procedures and supervision to make sure that the system in place is doing exactly what it is expected to do.

A full review will be undertaken by the commissioner, and he will ensure that we have the very best systems in place. He is confident that that is the case already, but he is going to make sure that there is a comprehensive review that at least looks at things such as training, policy, operating procedures and supervision as a part of his review.