Crime Rates

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:47): I rise to bring to the chamber's attention a very important matter, and that is that over the last 12 months South Australia has unfortunately experienced a significant spike in criminal activity. It is not just anecdotal evidence that suggests this, but in fact the official South Australia Police statistics have confirmed the following:

Robbery and related offences have gone up by a staggering 23 per cent;

Shop theft has surged by 31 per cent;

I think, concerningly, assaults on police in the last 12 months alone have risen by 31 per cent;

Homicides are up by 17 per cent;

Serious assaults resulting in injury have increased by 16 per cent;

Abduction, harassment and other offences that are related have also seen an 18 per cent rise;

Family and domestic violence has risen by 11 per cent;

Aggravated sexual assault has increased by 8 per cent; and

Sexual assault itself is up by 6 per cent.

Outside of those, perhaps the worst crime of all, murder, has also increased, although statistics on that are not clear. There is rarely a day that passes that we do not learn of another violent offence or crime spree occurring in our CBD, suburbs or regional areas. In the past couple of months, we have had far too many instances of South Australians being the target of criminal activity, as these statistics bear out.

In just the last week, we have heard that some Rundle Mall employees are terrified of going to work because of violent thieves who are harassing them and, in some cases, being violent with them. There have been some frightening instances of shoplifters wielding weapons and terrorising staff. On one sad occasion, a 45-year-old man brandished an axe in Rebel Sport, the store in Rundle Mall, and threatened to 'smash the retail assistants and burn the place down'. On another occasion, a 15-year-old girl knocked an employee out with a stool from the floor of the store at Foot Locker that she was in.

Last month, there were reports of the brutal stabbing of a 12-year-old boy allegedly by another 13-year-old boy who was out on bail for numerous other serious charges, including two previous breaches of bail, serious criminal trespass, aggravated assault and two counts of robbery and driving without consent. A 15-year-old boy was also involved, was charged and then—you would not believe it—bailed.

On that same day, we are informed of social media pages that were created to glorify violence in Ceduna, where over two dozen videos of violent brawls were posted that were captured in the area's streets, in their parks, on buses, at schools and at sporting facilities. It is important to note that locals have said they have noticed a significant increase in violence, theft, break-ins, alcohol abuse and domestic abuse since the cashless debit card was abolished, after it had been introduced by the former Liberal government.

Just a few days prior to that report, The Advertiser's headline read, in large bold letters, 'Teens out of control', with articles detailing how shop owners are being plagued by break-ins across our suburbs, with particular reference to a spate of incidents in metropolitan Adelaide, throughout Torrensville, Greenwith, Para Hills and Findon. Earlier in the month, we were also made aware of six youths ranging in age from just 11 to 16 who were caught by police after being seen running from a cafe with stolen food items in their possession in the very early hours of the morning.

Of course, this is just a small snapshot and some specific, almost random, examples of what our constituents have been experiencing in the space of a handful of weeks in South Australia. I am sure we would all agree that South Australians deserve to feel safe and secure in their homes and their workplaces and their schools and as they go about their ordinary daily lives, but in the minds of many this is simply not the case.

The attrition rate in our police force is undoubtedly a major factor in the unacceptable crime levels. We all know that a visible police presence prevents antisocial behaviour, and the ability for patrols to respond to incidents in a timely manner is critical to maintaining law and order. Further, offenders should not be let back into the community on bail so swiftly and so easily as it seems they are. I have raised this matter time and time again during question time, as we all know, yet bail breaches continue to occur and reoffending whilst on bail is occurring far too frequently.

The state government also needs to ensure the Department for Correctional Services is adequately staffed to deal with violations of home detention orders, particularly during the night hours, when it is alleged that breaches are not being attended to due to a lack of staff. Naturally, legislation should be reviewed and overhauled so that appropriate penalties are in place to deter would-be criminals from committing offences in the first place. Importantly, addressing the root causes that drive both youths and adults to offend is vital.

The safety of South Australians should be absolutely paramount to this government, and it is my hope that this state Labor government acts without delay to lower our state's unacceptable crime levels by engaging every possible preventive and combative measure to this end and, in doing so, I assure them of opposition support.