Police Station Opening Hours

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (15:07): My question is to the Minister for Police. Will the minister reaffirm his commitment to extended police station hours staffed by active sworn SAPOL officers?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:07): I thank the inquisitive member for his question yet again. He is very inquisitive. He keeps going with the same question, and I will keep giving him the same answer. We made a commitment at the election. The communities around Henley Beach, Glenelg and Norwood were very grateful for that commitment, and we look forward to delivering on that commitment.

As we know, today the district police model rolls out. It's a model that SAPOL have put in place to improve safety in the community, and we will make sure that is the outcome the community receives. I know the program was put in place whilst those opposite were in government. I know that, like us, they want to see a safe community. In fact, I get the essence that we want to see it a little bit more than them when I look at the policies we have rolled out.

As I have said to this house a hundred times over—and the inquisitive member on the other side asks about it again—we will be extending the police opening hours at the Henley Beach Police Station, the Norwood Police Station and also the Glenelg Police Station. What we understand in this day and age, and again with the district policing model—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —that is moving in a more technologically advanced manner—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned.

Mr Duluk interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Waite is on two warnings.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Society as a whole is moving in a more technologically advanced manner. I look at my family. My kids in their late teens and early 20s are far more tech-savvy, perhaps, than I am, but I am probably a few steps ahead of my mum. On this side of the house, we know we need to take the whole of society with us. We are not just going to shut down a group of people and say, 'No, we're not giving you services.' We're about better services here.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I'm getting direction and advice from the Leader of the Opposition.

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I want to clarify that I won't be taking advice, as I said before, from a union hack.

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is on two warnings.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We can go back over the history of what those on that side of the house delivered for South Australia. We can talk about their Transforming Health policy. We can talk about their horrendous record in child protection. In 16 years, they spent millions—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I hear the member for Lee chipping away over there, and I think back to his role in the job—spent millions of dollars and couldn't get a tram to turn right. That's his contribution to this place. Not to mention the highest youth unemployment—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —in the nation. As we look back at what those on that side of the house delivered for this state, we can't forget Oakden. We can't forget Oakden. That's what they delivered, but they have the hide to—

Members interjecting:

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Point of order, Mr Speaker: debate.

The SPEAKER: Point of order: 98.

Members interjecting:

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Point of order: relevance, Mr Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Waite can depart for half an hour under 137A.

The honourable member for Waite having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: Is the Minister for Police—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is called to order. Minister for Police, I ask that you please keep to the substance of the question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you, Minister for Police. Please complete your answer.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Thank you, Mr Speaker, I do appreciate that. I was talking about—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Light is called to order.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —our policies in contrast to policies that they've delivered.

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Light, please do not interject, sir.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: What we do know is that those opposite did exactly as the Minister for Education said: they closed police stations. They closed police stations and we want to keep them open so that people—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier is warned. The Minister for Industry is called to order. The Deputy Premier is called to order.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will conclude by reiterating the point that we understand there's a move in technology in this state. We understand younger people are getting more and more advanced, but we're not going to leave people behind, and we are going to reopen those police stations.

The SPEAKER: The minister's time has expired. Member for Mount Gambier.