POLICE RESOURCES

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:43): I have a supplementary question. Will the minister indicate to the chamber how many assaults there have been on police officers over the last four years while this ridiculously inadequate trial of Tasers has been taking place, given that they have not been issued to the uniform patrol people, who need them? In fact, how many of those assaults would have been avoided if uniformed police had been equipped with Tasers?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:43): That question really sums up the inadequacy of the South Australian opposition, if it thinks the solution to our crime problems is a piece of technology. I can imagine that, if a police officer used a Taser and missed the target, which is relatively easy, and was then assaulted, these people would be standing up in this place and condemning the government for not adequately training the police or for giving them the wrong equipment. Alternatively, if someone was using a Taser, and the Coroner or someone else subsequently found out that there had been an excessive use of force, we would, no doubt, have people in this parliament demanding my head because this equipment had been misused. Technology will not provide the sole solution to crime. Our police need to have the best equipment available, but the regime in which it operates needs to be carefully considered for the best protection of police themselves. As I said, the police already have a series of equipment at their disposal, from firearms through to capsicum spray and other equipment. What the police need to do, if they are to use different sorts of equipment, is to work out the protocols on when that sort of equipment is best employed.