Police Numbers

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (16:51): I wish to make a brief contribution in regard to a petition that was tabled earlier this week, on Tuesday, signed by 1,250 people, seeking an increased police presence in the Moonta, Moonta Bay and Port Hughes community as part of the Goyder electorate and within the Copper Coast area. I have had many discussions with the members of the community who have been pushing rather hard for this. The petition tabled this week builds upon a petition tabled, I believe, in March with about 950 signatures, making a very similar request of the Crown to ensure support for the now closed Moonta police station (which has been closed for about eight years) to be reopened, or to have an increased police presence.

I can say that I am grateful for the fact that I have had regular discussions with senior police officers and explained to them (as have the people involved in collecting signatures for the petition) about the need. We have quoted some examples of some response times which have caused concern in the community, particularly for older members who, often living by themselves, want a quick and rapid response from our police—which they do their absolute best to achieve, but it has been evident to me that there has to be some assistance provided. These are good, law-abiding people who believe in a police presence but they want to make sure that they see them in a more practical way.

In the modern age we live in, people who choose not to obey the law seemingly are in contact with each other via these things that we hold in our hands and put in our pockets all the time, and it allows them to circumvent where police patrols might be. The community I have been talking to wants to see police walking down the streets a bit more often, and police vehicles there, which creates some staffing challenges. The police have been very good in agreeing to do their best to comply with these requests.

For those who are not aware of it, policing on the Copper Coast is controlled by the Kadina station. There is no station in Wallaroo or Moonta any more. In that station, there are probably about 25 officers, who have a variety of responsibilities. They work in shifts, so there is a 24-hour coverage and we have an excellent level of support across the community, but the request that has come from the Moonta area is for this petition to be recognised.

I have contacted minister Malinauskas and he has been good enough to speak to me about it in the Goyder electorate when he was visiting regarding other portfolio responsibilities (probably about a month ago). He has pointed out that police resources issues are the responsibility of the commissioner. I have written to the commissioner trying to identify if there are any particular trigger points that create the need for a police presence to be permanently located within a township, and I have had some good feedback on that, but it is still a very emotive issue in the community which has resulted in this petition being tabled.

The community is working hard to engender more support for it. I know that there is a desire for a presentation to occur to the District Council of the Copper Coast, hopefully within two weeks, trying to get the council to be supportive. Two elected members of the council and I have met with some of the community people driving this effort, and we have had some rather frank discussions about it. We played the devil's advocate to those who are proposing the need for an improved police presence in the town, about the complications that it represents, but we are still trying to work through the issues.

I commend the community members who have worked very hard to get community support for this. I have seen the effort they have made in putting petition papers in all the businesses that operate within the town, with regular follow-up and ensuring that the petitions always had opportunities for more signatures to be attached. They have collected that and provided a copy to me. They have ensured that the local media is aware of this to make others in the community aware of it.

It is an example, and indeed a very profound example, of no matter what the age of the person—and it is fair to say that the two people I have worked primarily with on this are part of the older members of our community—they are very passionate about what they want and they are not people who easily take no for an answer, nor should the community take no for an answer. They want particular things and if they cannot get them they want to know why, and they want to know the reasons why, and they want to see improvements still occur.

Some ongoing dialogue will occur between community members and police, and local government and myself. I believe very strongly that the police response to this is going to be an assurance that they will be in the town a lot, even though Kadina is only 14 kilometres away from Moonta, to ensure that safety is the paramount issue. This concern stems from an unfortunate series of break-ins that occurred very early in 2016 that caused business holders in the main to be worried about some disreputable people in the community.

That person was apprehended and there have been no further associated problems, but it just goes to show that no matter where you are in regional communities—and metropolitan Adelaide has dealt with this in recent times with the announced reduction in opening hours of 19 police stations across suburban Adelaide—police presence is an important issue. Just like hospitals, which we talk about in this place often, just like schools, which we talk about often in this place, it is part of the social fabric.

I commend the people in the Moonta community who have driven this and thank them for their efforts in ensuring that another 1,250 signatures were attached to the petition presented to the parliament on Tuesday. I look forward to some ongoing negotiations about getting a resolution put in place that will assure all parties, as I believe very strongly also that the police commitment to ensuring safety in the Moonta, Moonta Bay and Port Hughes community is very strong, as I know it is, and they will do their absolute best to make them outstanding communities in the future.

At 16:57 the house adjourned until Tuesday 29 September 2016 at 11:00.