POLICE SERVICES

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Police. Can the minister inform the house about South Australia's continued national leadership in the delivery of police services?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:52): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker. I think that question contained comment, and therefore should be ruled out of order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! As I have not heard the answer to the question I cannot comment on the question.

Mr WILLIAMS: The question assumed that South Australia was the leader, and I think that was comment.

The SPEAKER: I do not think it was comment; it was a statement. We will wait to see what the minister answers; if she answers it and satisfies me, there will be no point of order.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I thank the member for Port Adelaide for the question—I know she has a significant interest in community safety—and I will happily put the Deputy Leader of the Opposition's mind at rest that we are a national leader.

Providing safe communities has been an important priority of this government and the recently released 2012 Report on Government Services shows that we are on track, and have made a significant difference in the level of resourcing, crime levels, and people's sense of safety. The 2012 ROGS confirmed, for the fifth year in a row, that South Australia has the highest level of operational police per capita of any state with 312 operational police officers per 100,000 residents. We did this with the second most efficient system in the country, taking into account also that we have more than doubled the police budget over the last decade.

Of particular note, the ROGS reported that South Australia had the lowest rate in the nation for sexual assault and the second lowest rate for robbery. Over the past decade we have also achieved the best record in Australia for public confidence in the police—seven first places, one second place, and two thirds. On five of the six measures of perception of personal safety we are doing better than we were 10 years ago. In a report issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on 21 February, people are now reporting that they are half as likely to be victims of assault, robbery, break-in and attempted break-in compared to the year 2000.

The last SAPOL annual report showed that victim-reported crime is down almost 37 per cent over the decade. That is 200 fewer offences per day, 200 South Australian families every day who are not the victims of theft, assault or worse. These results are driven by our government's commitment to make our community safer. The evidence is there. The Productivity Commission, the ABS and SAPOL all seem to support the Leader of the Opposition's view that South Australia is probably the safest place to live in the world.