House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Police Funding POLICE FUNDING Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly Stuart POLICE FUNDING Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:55): My question is for the Premier, again. Will the Premier confirm that he will not be supporting the cabinet submission that was leaked to the media for funding to recruit 25 extra police, given his prior comments that police have to 'manage within the budget they've been given'? The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly Cheltenham Premier Minister for State Development Minister for the Public Sector Minister for the Arts POLICE FUNDING The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:56): If the honourable member had followed the chain of reasoning of the previous answer, he would probably reach the conclusion that I will not actually be answering that question publicly because that would be to breach my own edict. I will not be offering an opinion about the fate or otherwise of any budget process, but can I say this: we have an incredibly well-resourced police force. We have more operational police per capita than any other state in the nation and it is no surprise that we have seen a reduction in crime in this state in the order of 40 per cent because of the excellent work of that police force. We have asked the police to engage in a savings task. It is the lightest of almost any government agency, in recognition of the fact that they are a priority, but it is also true that it is the case that we can achieve sensible economies in the way in which we run any business within government. We expect police to do the same, although we will work with them to make sure that we can achieve the twin aims of being the most efficient police force as well as the police force that is able to deliver the highest standards of excellence, which it has become known for.