Police Station Opening Hours

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:25): My question is to the Minister for Police. Does the minister still back police and support SAPOL's decision to make no changes to police station opening hours as part of the new district policing model?

The SPEAKER: Minister.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:26): Thank you, Mr Speaker—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The minister will be heard in silence.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —and I thank the leader for the question.

The SPEAKER: Members will be departing today.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: As I said in my ministerial statement, that is how it stands right at the minute. Our election commitment—and let me reiterate this point because clearly it's gone in one ear and out the other for the Leader of the Opposition—is that we are committed to reopening those police stations.

The Hon. S.S. Marshall: He can't do two things at once.

The SPEAKER: Premier!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We will expand the opening hours of those police stations at Norwood, at Henley Beach and also at Glenelg. It's an election commitment we made. It's an election commitment we made and it's an election commitment we will deliver. I hear them on the other side—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —bark about election commitments—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —and when they're going to be delivered. I'm just going to go off the top of my head, and I'm going to go with, 'We will not close the Repat.' I remember it being said from that side of the chamber. They would not close the Repat, and guess what?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: It also mentioned 100,000 jobs—another election commitment they failed to deliver. Again, it is foreign to them on the other side of the house, but I welcome them to watch. I welcome them to watch a very good government in action.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: They have for the first 100 days, and so have the people of South Australia. They have seen a government delivering on election commitments, and guess what? The people of South Australia are liking it. They are liking what they see, and we will continue to do that. We will continue to deliver on our election commitments and this is one of them.

I know that the Leader of the Opposition hates good news. He hates good news, but I will send him down to Henley Beach in the electorate of Colton, and I will send him to Morphett and the people of Glenelg. He can even go and have a coffee with the Premier in Norwood and have a chat with the people about what they want, because you need to listen. I know it's difficult when you are campaigning in Croydon and you live in Unley. It's hard when you are doing that during the campaign and you don't know what the local community wants. But on this side of the house we listen to the people in our electorate.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We listen to the people in our electorate. I stress the point that for those people in Colton—and I warn them—and for the people in Morphett, down Glenelg way, and Henley Beach, and also the people in Norwood, the Labor Party have given up on those electorates because they are putting a message out there loud and clear that, if they get back into power, they will shut down those police station opening hours. That's what the Leader of the Opposition wants to do.

They need to be warned that perhaps they have just given up on those electorates because we've got some very, very good members in those electorates doing a very, very good job. I make the point again to those on the other side that what they do that makes them so good is listen to their community, and it's so important to do. So make sure you keep listening—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —to your community. Listen to your community—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —is the one little bit of advice—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right, the minister will be heard in silence.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I appreciate that protection. I just reiterate the point that it's so important to listen to your community, and that's what we do on this side of the house.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the Leader of the Opposition, I call the following members to order: the Premier, the member for Waite, who has been doing it all day, the Deputy Premier and the member for Playford. The leader.