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 Numbers South AUSTRALIA Police Numbers Mr BATTY House of Assembly Bragg South AUSTRALIA Police Numbers Mr BATTY (Bragg) (14:59): My question is again to the Minister for Police. Does the minister have a target for the net number of police to be recruited over the next three months and, if so, what is that target? The Hon. D.R. CREGAN House of Assembly Kavel Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services Special Minister of State South AUSTRALIA Police Numbers The Hon. D.R. CREGAN (Kavel—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Special Minister of State) (15:00): I thank the member for his question. As I have remarked to the member previously in relation to a slightly different formulation of this question, we would like South Australia Police to return to establishment as soon as possible. The difference between the opposition, the former government, and this government is clear. We have taken actual steps to achieve that outcome, when the previous cabinet took none, in the face of the data that we have examined to form that view, and it is absolutely outrageous. It is outrageous for those opposite to suggest in any way that there hasn't been a sufficient focus on this issue because the contrast could not be sharper in this sense. As I have emphasised, there are substantial resources, substantial public resources, taxpayers' funds, being devoted to this important task, to this essential task. It is the necessary role of government to supply funds to South Australia Police for them to support their recruitment pipeline. I earlier reflected on the more than $12 million that is being devoted to recruitment overall. As I also earlier indicated in response to a previous question, we now have a dual recruitment stream. We are recruiting diligently within South Australia and we are approaching other jurisdictions to support us. South Australia Police has a good record of approaching jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, of course, now Canada, to ensure that there is a pathway for experienced officers to be joining us in South Australia. Previous cohorts have made a very substantial contribution to the South Australian community and to South Australia Police, the third oldest organised police force in the world. As well, we have thought very carefully about how in other ways we might be able to support South Australia Police. One of those ways is by recruiting a substantial number of police security officers, with more than $80 million being invested there. Nobody is distracted for a moment from the important task at hand, and that is to ensure that South Australia Police returns to establishment. It is also necessary for me to observe by way of context that South Australia Police has the highest number of officers by head of population anywhere in Australia—anywhere in Australia. If we had the same numbers by head of population compared to Queensland, we would have more than 300 officers fewer. As well, it must be emphasised that we have one of the lowest attrition rates in the country despite having one of the most buoyant employment markets. It is often the case we have, I observe, an attrition rate of around about 5 per cent, which falls just behind the attrition rate experienced by most often the Australian Federal Police. As members would appreciate, the Australian Federal Police operates in a different policing environment and of course there is a different scope of policing activities that AFP officers are engaged in. Often, aside from the Australian Federal Police, we have amongst the lowest attrition rates in the country. But none of these matters are distracting us from the task to ensure that there is a dual pipeline of cadets available to South Australia Police, those being recruited locally and those being recruited from overseas, to join us in the same way as in previous years, and we have focused on that task.