House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Question Time Police, Rewards for Information Police, Rewards for Information Mr MALINAUSKAS House of Assembly Croydon Leader of the Opposition Police, Rewards for Information Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:05): My question is to the Minister for Police. Does the offering of rewards assist with catching offenders and solving crimes? The Hon. C.L. WINGARD House of Assembly Gibson Minister for Police Minister for Recreation Police, Rewards for Information The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:05): I only just heard the tail end of that question, so I am presuming it is about rewards, and he is talking about the southern suburbs, of course, and the rock-throwing incidents that have been reported to— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER Order! Would you like to repeat the question? Mr MALINAUSKAS House of Assembly Mr MALINAUSKAS: Sure. Sorry. My question is to the Minister for Police. Does the offering of rewards assist in catching offenders or solving crimes? The Hon. C.L. WINGARD House of Assembly The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I thank the leader for his question, and again he is referring to the matter that I mentioned before. I would like to say that our police are doing a fantastic job in their response to the rock-throwing incidents, and that they have been working their trigger response plan and that is working very, very well. They have, in fact, apprehended a number of offenders and, as far as this program is concerned, they are increasing their police presence in the local area and they are working with interagency— Mr KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Point of order. The minister will be seated. Mr KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly Mr KOUTSANTONIS: The question isn't about Operation Trigger. The question is about whether rewards assist in the capture of criminals. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: So the point of order is for relevance. If I am not mistaken, the question was regarding whether the offering of some kind of reward helps to solve crimes. I think that the minister is entitled to articulate an answer with some relevant background information, but then, minister, could you please address the substance of the question. The Hon. C.L. WINGARD House of Assembly The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Thank you, Mr Speaker— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER Order! Members will cease interjecting. Minister. The Hon. C.L. WINGARD House of Assembly The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Thank you, Mr Speaker, and you are right: there are a number of ways that police can go about solving crimes and doing this in the local area, and I am just outlining what the police are doing and what they have looked at. I back our police. Those on the other side may not, but I back them and the operations they are doing, and that's why I point out the fantastic job they are doing and the fact that their trigger response plan is working. They have increased their police presence in the local area through, as I said, foot patrols, mounted police, bicycles and motorbikes, and they are getting good outcomes. There are number of ways you can deal with solving crime, and this is what the police are doing, and they are doing a mighty good job, especially down in the south. Again, we value our police on this side of the house. I mention rewards being one method that can be used, but this interagency approach that police are taking I back. I back what they are doing, and I back the results they are getting. As I said, they have already made some arrests around this. The Minister for Transport pointed out yesterday in this place what DPTI is doing, and that is part of this interagency approach: SAPOL working with the other agencies, looking at the bigger picture and getting outcomes for people of the south. As I said, the Minister for Transport outlined what DPTI is doing, and SAPOL is continuing to work with all these agencies to get good outcomes, and they are the actions they are taking and I back them in. The Hon. S.S. Marshall interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Before I call the leader again, the Premier is called to order. Leader.