Indulkana Community Policing

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:36): Thank you, Mr President. If I can have the indulgence perhaps to roll two supplementaries into one. First, would the minister be comfortable in giving an undertaking to provide a copy to the parliament of the submission of the police to the Nyland royal commission? Secondly, in relation to the 20 sworn officers, are they field positions? My point being, how many officers do we have on the lands, and how many positions are yet to be filled?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:36): The nature of servicing remote communities, and this is not just true for the APY lands, is that there is a turnover of staff: it is a challenging environment. I am not aware of any specific vacancies that exist at the moment, and that is in the context of the fact that I was only there in the last few weeks.

In regard to community constables, however, there is provision for 10 community constables in the APY lands, and I am more than happy to disclose the fact that SAPOL do have a challenge when it comes to fulfilling the positions of community constables. At the moment, the full contingent of 10 has not been allocated for. Out of the other positions, I am not aware of any specific vacancies, but I think, as people would reasonably understand, through a transition of staff and a turnover of staff and attrition and the like, there are vacancies, but, by and large, I think they have been filled. Again, if there is a glaring vacancy that has not been filled, I am happy to seek that information and bring it back.

Regarding the submission to the Nyland royal commission, this government's predisposition is always towards releasing information where it is appropriate to do so. Sometimes, in the context of SAPOL, however, that can be difficult due to operational requirements, but, again, I am happy to seek advice about that and, unless there is any reason for that information to not be released, I am happy to facilitate it, provided there is not any operational reason for a degree of confidentiality around SAPOL's submission.