CBD Crime and Antisocial Behaviour

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services. Have rates of crime and antisocial behaviour increased in the CBD over the last year, and has the minister received any feedback from local businesses?

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services) (14:45): I am happy perhaps to touch on the second part and get directly to the point of the shadow minister's question regarding statistics as well as the antisocial behaviour. The feedback from city traders is very clear: they are very pleased with the significant response the government has made, along with SAPOL, to increase the police presence in our CBD.

That response is very clear to anyone who may have walked in or walked out of this building and up North Terrace and around the CBD this morning. That is really important because we know that so much of the behaviour that is leading to those traders I meet with regularly, whether it be larger hospitality and tourism providers right down to smaller businesses—it is the sense of wellbeing in our CBD. We as a government and city traders want a vibrant CBD; I could even accuse the opposition of wanting a vibrant CBD. Whether it be major events or whether it be workers returning to the CBD, we want people in the CBD to be here enjoying the best that our CBD has to offer.

With that, it is absolutely critical that those people who are working in the CBD, enjoying their time in the CBD, feel safe—feel welcomed but also feel safe. Antisocial behaviour often, by its very definition, does not meet a criminal threshold. There is a visible presence of police in our CBD, police who are from a variety of operational specialities, including the Licensing Enforcement Branch, mounted operations, the SRS and road traffic section. There are also additional assets in our CBD, including all-terrain vehicles and, of course, our beloved police greys.

That is very much around providing a sense of wellbeing, a sense of safety, and dissuading and disrupting that antisocial behaviour. Sadly, much of this antisocial behaviour is influenced by factors such as alcohol and homelessness. Drugs, of course, have certainly never been lacking as a factor, but also very significant social disadvantage. I do not want to lose sight of that social disadvantage that leads to this, hence why the suite of responses from this government is so important.

That is about disrupting. The police presence in the city is also about taking a zero-tolerance approach to matters that are of a criminal nature, whether it be violence or whether it be other offences of public disorder. It is recognising, as we do on this side of the house, that police do play, and have been playing for time immemorial in our CBD, a very important role when it comes to responding to this type of behaviour. Not always does antisocial behaviour lead to criminality, but at times and often it does, too. It is disrupting it before it occurs and it is ensuring there is a very firm and clear presence in our CBD when it does occur.

The heart of this is about supporting our community. It's not just supporting it with our response; it's also supporting it through budget. There is $94 million in this state budget alone to put more police on the front line—180 new sworn police security officers—but also to get 900 cadets through our Police Academy in the next three years.