Police Stations

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (14:48): My supplementary—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I will have a third go. Will the minister actually—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Dawkins is on his feet. He has a supplementary question he wants to ask and I think he has the right to ask it, so allow him to ask it without any interjection.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: My supplementary is: will the minister actually provide information to the chamber about the level of any information campaigns that were provided, whether they be statewide or to individual communities, after the decision to decrease the hours was actually made?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:48): I am more than happy for my office to provide the Hon. Mr Dawkins with the information that shows that we made it very clear to the South Australian public what the changes to police station hours would be, but I have to say that I am not aware of these changes having caused too much concern within the community. The only changes that I am aware of causing concern are amongst those opposite who are running around scaring people that somehow there are fewer people out on the beat when, of course, we know there isn't.

We know that there are more police out on the beat than ever before—something that those opposite want to change. Those opposite want to take police off the beat, out of patrol cars and put them behind desks. It is an extraordinary proposition. They want to take police out of the front line, out of patrol cars and put them behind desks. Let them take that policy to the next election because that will be one extraordinary argument and debate to be had during the course of the next election campaign.