Police Recruitment

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (14:37): Supplementary to the minister's answer regarding him confirming that he had been coerced or forced into honouring the delayed policy of 313 with the recruitment: is the minister able to advise the house whether, of the 313, 50 per cent will be men and 50 per cent will be women, as was announced by the commissioner in recent months?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:38): No, I cannot. I think the honourable member is looking for a guarantee. I am not inclined to make any guarantees about exactly 50 per cent here or 50 per cent there. What I will say is this, that the police commissioner has made it clear that he has a target and an objective of dramatically increasing the number of women who are working within SAPOL. I think that is a good policy and one I wholeheartedly endorse.