VICTIM REPORTED CRIME

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide) (14:38): My question is for the Minister for Police. Can the minister inform the house about the continued decline in victim-reported crime in South Australia?

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) (14:38): I thank the member for Port Adelaide for her question. I know that in her short time as a member of parliament she is developing a very close relationship with her local police in the Port Adelaide LSA. When Labor was elected to government in February 2002, the most recent South Australia Police annual report showed that more than 209,000 victim-reported offences were committed in the previous financial year.

Today I want to congratulate our police and our other community safety agencies for delivering yet another drop in crime in 2011-12. Total victim reported crime is now less than 126,000 offences. This is 227 fewer offences every day—1,596 every week, compared to when we were elected; that is 227 South Australian households every day, 1,596 every week, that are not victims of robbery, property damage or violence. This achievement is even more remarkable when you consider that our state's population has increased by around 8 per cent over the same period.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Just so that people heard that: this achievement is even more remarkable when you consider that our state's population has increased by around 8 per cent over the same period.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Member for Croydon, order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Madam Speaker, crime reduction is no coincidence. We have invested in more police, better equipment, improved pay and conditions and enhanced powers. Thanks to the historic reduction in crime over the past decade, police have more opportunities to get on the front foot and make our roads safer, tackle organised crime and engage the community through new programs like Neighbourhood Policing Teams.

Police are now central players in multi-agency responses to domestic violence, natural disasters, drugs and alcohol. They run education programs, divert people to support services, where appropriate, and provide security advice to households and businesses. Police have even gone digital and have around 50,000 followers on social media.

In the same way that mobile phones caused an increase in calls to police for a reduced number of incidents, new media platforms have increased our exposure to, and concern about, crime that is often very remote from us. The media's job is to report but we must put the reports in context. Our state, without the slightest shadow of a doubt, is safer and more secure than when we came to government, and to use the words of the Leader of the Opposition, Adelaide is probably one of the safest places in the world.

When the Liberals were last in power their community safety policy involved cutting police numbers over their first term. And nobody was surprised when crime rates exploded. They went from 157,000—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, the deputy leader.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister is now clearly debating the answer to the question.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —victim-reported offences in 1994-95—

The SPEAKER: Minister, order! I refer you back to the substance of the question please.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am talking about victim-reported crime rates and providing the house with a comparison. They went from 157,000 victim-reported offences in 1994-95 to 209,000 by 2001, an increase of a third, or an extra 1,000 offences every week.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker: you have already ruled that the minister is wandering into debate, and she's continuing reading a debate.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I would ask you to wind up, minister, and not refer to Liberal policy.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: From 1994-95 to 2001 victim-reported crime went up every year except one—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: And these weren't small increases: 11.2 per cent in 1998-99 and 12 per cent in 2000-01 were shameful highlights.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: Madam Speaker, that was clearly debate.

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, your time has expired anyway. I would ask you to sit down. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition.