House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time South Australia Police South Australia Police Mr TELFER House of Assembly Flinders South Australia Police Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:36): My question is to the Minister for Police. How many officer vacancies are there currently within the South Australian police force and is this number putting South Australians at risk? The Hon. D.R. CREGAN House of Assembly Kavel Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services Special Minister of State South Australia Police The Hon. D.R. CREGAN (Kavel—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Special Minister of State) (14:36): Mr Speaker, this being the first occasion on which I have made remarks to the house since your elevation and changes to cabinet, may I thank the member for Stuart, the Independent minister who was serving in my place. It is good to see him in good health—a miraculous outcome that he survived three heart attacks and is still with us. I want to recognise that he was a very fine minister. If I can be even half the minister that he was, I will have made a contribution to this state. Also to the member for Cheltenham, can I say that he left the portfolio in good standing and the relationships are very sound. Turning to the member for Flinders' question, I thank the member for his question. The establishment figure for South Australia Police, of course, as the member well knows, that we are seeking to restore numbers to is 4,684. Of course, we are, as the member well knows, below that position. We are presently around about the 4,500 mark and every effort is being made to ensure that there is additional recruitment. We have been in market in the United Kingdom; we have been in market in the Republic of Ireland; and we have been in market in New Zealand. We have been, of course, establishing regional recruitment centres or testing centres at Mount Gambier and at Berri. We are calling all South Australians to serve in their police force. Can I make this observation: recruiting police officers is a challenge that is not just faced in South Australia, it is being faced in every Australian state and territory, and in other commonwealth countries, including in the countries that we are turning to to recruit from. So this has been a challenge for quite some time, member for Flinders. There was regrettably a year when there were some particular challenges. In that year, the recruitment figure was 122. That was, in part, the outcome of the efforts of your colleagues in the previous government. More than $81 million is now being invested to recruit protectional services officers. More than $12 million is being invested to recruit sworn police officers. May I say this to the house: the first conversation I had with our police commissioner relates to this important issue. It will be something that this government continues to pursue vigorously and something that I will continue to pursue vigorously as well.