Grievance Debate

Renmark Police Station

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:19): Today, I rise to speak about a win for the Riverland community. Recently, I stood in this place to raise my concerns and the concerns of the Riverland community about staffing arrangements at the Renmark Police Station. These concerns were further inflamed after internal SAPOL correspondence revealed that police staff would be relocated to Barmera during renovations at the Berri Police Station and that Barmera was chosen as it reduces the risk of the Renmark community becoming accustomed to front station services like previous services that were provided.

Questions were asked of the Minister for Police about the future of the Renmark Police Station in the upper house and he referred the matter to the police commissioner, who he said is responsible for allocating resources to tackle crime. I would like to report to the house today that after I wrote to the police minister in April, and in consultation with him, he has now responded to say that the model at the Renmark Police Station is under review. The letter states:

South Australia Police (SAPOL) advise that patrols based in Renmark are required to open the station on a day shift between 9am and 4.30pm when they are not operationally committed. SAPOL acknowledged that this has not been consistent and measures have been put in place to rectify this.

The letter goes on:

Additionally, SAPOL are currently reviewing the model of Renmark Police Station to find a system that staffs Renmark similar to that of Loxton, Barmera and Waikerie that does not diminish the overall response capabilities originating out of Berri.

This is a win for the community in that the Minister for Police and the state government have acknowledged that there is a problem with the staffing model at the Renmark Police Station after failing to acknowledge this when I first raised these concerns. My view is that the station should be manned and fully operational. If someone attends the station to make a report, we need to ensure there is an official in attendance to take that report. As I understand it, under the current set-up, if officers are operationally committed, out on patrol, then the office is not always manned. I do not accept that it is a good enough staffing structure, and the Minister for Police has now acknowledged as much.

I am also glad to see the Renmark Police Station will be used for the transfer of some staffing while parts of the Berri Police Station are under renovation for a six-month period. Without concerns raised by the community, this would not have occurred or the plan would have continued as per internal correspondence for the staff transferred only to Barmera.

The Renmark Paringa district population is nearly 9,500 people, and it is without a police station operating when officers are on call, even just in business hours. It should be a continual operational police station with the continued challenges with crystal methamphetamine activity, domestic violence and other crime issues across the Riverland. Ice use in South Australia has tripled in the past four years and the Riverland is impacted by this. I would like to see a review of how our smaller stations are also operating and their operating hours/staffing, particularly at Loxton, Barmera and Waikerie.

In conclusion, the review of the staffing arrangements at the Renmark Police Station is a win for the local community. They stood up and made our concerns vocal through a number of mediums, including our local media, headed by the Murray Pioneer, in this house and through correspondence to the ministers. I now urge the Minister for Police to ensure there is a strong and important role for the Renmark Police Station into the future of policing in the Riverland.

All country towns and regions are seeing a diminishing police presence. It is a concern, particularly with the increasing use of crystal methamphetamine. Sadly, there is a rising occurrence of domestic violence. Every day that there is a lack of police presence, there is a lack of acceptance that we have a level of police on our streets, having police stations that give us representation to report incidents and to give us a police station that is a head office for small regional communities. South Australian regions have been dealt a blow through the state budget and the South Australian police stations are no different.