Regional Policing

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (15:24): I want to highlight the concerns of the communities in my electorate about crime and community safety. Firstly, I want to speak about the situation in Ceduna at the moment. I have spoken in this place about the concerns of businesses and individuals in Ceduna dealing with unacceptable situations: daily thefts from shops, individuals who are living in fear for their own personal safety, businesses which have experienced levels of constant vandalism, and people who are witnessing violence, public drunkenness and experiencing personal threats.

These incidents are all too common, impacting the local community and, sadly, we have seen a number of people deciding to leave Ceduna because of it. The vast majority of people within the Ceduna community are doing the right thing, peaceably living their lives and just want to feel safe in their own homes. Something needs to change.

Policing in regional areas is getting harder and harder because of the resource squeeze that is impacting all of our state but especially regional areas. I will always support police in our regional areas who do incredible work to keep us safe, but they need better support, strategy and resourcing.

It is not just in our major centres, either. Police in our smaller centres are being asked to do more and more, cover more country and deal with more issues. With the closure last year of the Minnipa and Wirrulla police stations, there is a vast swathe of my electorate that is covered by fewer officers. The challenge faced to permanently fill some of the vacant police stations in our regional areas is real in towns such as Cowell, Cleve, Kimba and Wudinna, let alone some of the more remote areas such as Yalata. If any of these stations do not have officers filling their positions, or they are on leave, then the burden of distance is even more onerous on the rest.

The police from Streaky Bay are having to cover all the way out to outback areas of our state. The distances that our officers cover would not be acceptable in any other role, and they include the responsibility for National Highway 1, the Eyre Highway, all the way to the Western Australian border, and the incidents and accidents that inevitably happen with such a responsibility.

The police officers in my region and the communities that they serve are crying out for attention from decision-makers. They must have their resourcing needs understood. They must have appropriate support structures in place. Police in our regions can be meaningful, productive and active participants in our community, but they need to be looked after.

Last month I had the pleasure of attending the SA Grain Industry Awards. I would like to congratulate the leadership of the peak body, Grain Producers SA, on their initiative which put these awards together. It was a really hard 2024 season for farmers across our state. The low rainfall and low production meant that those challenges were certainly real, and the first couple of months of 2025 have continued that way. It was in the shadow of that season that growers and the grain industry from all over the state came together to recognise the innovation and ingenuity of their sector, which continues to excel despite the many challenges they face.

I would like to congratulate the winners on the night. Firstly, Andrew Polkinghorne of Lock, in my own electorate, who was awarded the Grain Producer of the Year. His work as a Churchill Fellow and his leadership, research and smooth transition of his farm to the next generation are truly inspiring. It was special to have three generations of the Polkinghorne family there to celebrate the award.

Jock McNeil from the Mallee was awarded the Young Grain Producer of the Year. His passion for agriculture and innovative use of technology in grain farming is inspiring the next generation, especially his work on integrated soil management and through the Mallee Sustainable Farming group.

Tim Paschke from the Northern Mallee/Waikerie region was the winner of the Sustainability Award, sharing with us some of the work done on the sustainability of his farming operation, especially in a season like last year's, producing a crop on just 60 millimetres of rainfall. That is true dryland farming. It is truly remarkable.

Congratulations also to Professor Chris Preston, someone who is well known in South Australian grain research circles, on being awarded the Industry Impact Award. Lou Flohr from Lameroo was awarded the prestigious Women in Grains Award, highlighting the ever-increasing role women are playing in the grains industry. Sam Trengove from Yorke Peninsula was recognised for his impressive agronomic and research contribution to the industry with the Innovation Award.

As well as those, we also had the inaugural inductees into the SA Grain Industry Hall of Fame: John Lush, Dr Allan Mayfield and the late, great Ken Schaefer, as well as historical inductees John Ridley and the Smith brothers, Richard and Clarence. I do not have time today to even touch on the amount of work that those individuals have done throughout their many, many years of contribution to the grain industry, but those within the industry truly know that those individuals have given so much of themselves and have set up our state and the future of the grain industry. In the end, we are going to continue to be a vital part of the South Australian economy past, present and future, so well done to Grain Producers South Australia on a successful awards night.