POLICE, SUPER LOCAL SERVICE AREAS

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): I have a supplementary question. What is the estimated cost of the realignment project within SAPOL?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:22): In relation to SAPOL it will cost nothing other than the time taken to do it. In most cases, these boundaries, particularly in some of the rural areas, are just a matter of aligning particular remote areas where few resources will be involved. When I say 'resources', I mean that there are very few service providers within that particular boundary.

For example, in relation to a boundary between a northern region and the Murraylands region, it makes sense to have a common boundary, but whether it is closer to the Barrier Highway or the River Murray probably does not make a lot of difference in terms of the actual services provided. However, in terms of getting good government and having a common look across the agencies, it does make sense.

The policy of the government is sensible, and it is a policy which probably exists in the rest of the world. Sometimes it will happen that a logical police boundary will differ from a boundary that is appropriate for other agencies, and there are provisions for those issues to be dealt with. Otherwise, in general terms we will try to align the boundaries so that we get the benefits to government of having common consideration within our regions.