STATUTES AMENDMENT (POLICE) BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 12 September 2013.)

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (12:18): I will speak briefly on this bill and advise the council that Family First will be supporting the government with respect to the Statutes Amendment (Police) Bill. This is a bill that has the concurrence of the Police Association and it was part of the workings of the last enterprise agreement. We believe the government has this right and the testing and other matters that have been agreed to in principle and are now being debated before the house are worth reporting. However, I advise that our party has tabled an amendment and that I will speak to that during the committee stage of the bill. It is my intention to put an overview paper to all the members of the Legislative Council over the lunch break to help explain the amendment. With those few words, we will support the principle of the bill.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (12:20): I understand that there are no further second reading contributions, so by way of summing up I would like to thank honourable members for their contributions during the second reading debate. The Hon. Tammy Franks requested information regarding the number of times that tasers had been used by police in the last financial year and whether there had been a significant increase in their use.

I have been advised that in the 2012-13 financial year electronic control devices (ECD aka tasers) were discharged a total of 19 times. Specifically, on 17 occasions an ECD was used once and on two occasions it was used twice. Having regard for these figures, it should be taken into account that after the initial rollout of ECDs during 2011-12, where 162 ECDs were allocated, there were an additional 16 allocated in 2011-12. A further 184 ECDs were allocated in 2012-13, to bring the total number of allocated ECDs to 362.

Having consideration for the fact that the number of ECDs in operation has more than doubled since 2011-12, the increase in the number of times the ECD has been discharged since 2011-12 is negligible. This indicates that the taser is being used appropriately to de-escalate violent situations.

In response to the query by the Hon. Ms Franks regarding what had caused a fault in the audiovisual recording operation of a particular ECD, I am advised that Taser International were not able to provide an explanation as to what had caused that particular malfunction. With those words, I recommend the bill to the council and look forward to it being dealt with expeditiously through the committee stage.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clauses 1 to 8 passed.

Progress reported; committee to sit again.