POLICE FUNDING

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (14:36): My question is to the Minister for Police. Minister, what additional resources have been provided to SA Police over the last 10 years to assist in the area of child protection?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Finance, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:36): I thank the member for Reynell for this question. This government has provided significant additional resources to SAPOL for the purposes of both preventing crimes against children and investigating those crimes that do occur. Most of these resources have come from over 800 additional police provided by the government since 2002 and the doubling of the operational police budget over the same period. There have also been additional specifically-funded initiatives.

Before you can fully protect the children of today, you must work to redress the wrongs of the past. That is why this government provided additional funds for the establishment of the Paedophile Taskforce in June 2003. This unit of 25 was led by the now Deputy Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, and was tasked with dealing with historical offences dating from as far back as the 1950s. Over 1,000 investigations were conducted and over 111 people were arrested over seven years.

There can be no doubt that there are paedophiles in gaol today who would not be there if it were not for the dedicated work of this team and the decision to change the law in 2003 to remove the bar on prosecution for pre-1982 offences. The work of the Paedophile Taskforce was completed in 2010; however, due to the extra police resources provided to SAPOL by this government over the intervening years, the Commissioner of Police was able to maintain SAPOL's capacity in this area.

In addition, next year's increase in police numbers will enable the Commissioner of Police to establish a dedicated unit to patrol the internet for those who seek to prey on children. The new Internet Child Exploitation Team will find those looking for victims in chat rooms and on social media. Through forensic analysis of internet activity to identify child and minor exploitation; proactive detection and identification of previously unknown offenders; obtaining reliable evidence suitable for court use; and working with other state government stakeholder agencies, SAPOL will improve child protection in South Australia and make a valuable contribution to international efforts to close down this insidious crime.

Another new unit will also be established to keep a watchful eye on those offenders already on the Australian National Child Offenders Register. This will enhance the effective monitoring and case management of high and very high risk child sex offenders on the register. These most recent commitments by the government will further bolster the actions and resources committed by this government over the past 10 or so years.