Shop Theft

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:56): Supplementary: does the Attorney agree with the police commissioner's analysis a couple of days ago on radio that more needs to be done in relation to the root cause of the issue and the symptoms, as opposed to the thefts themselves—so why they are actually occurring in the first place?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for her question. I didn't hear it and I haven't read the transcript of the particular comments the police commissioner made, but certainly the circumstances that particularly vulnerable people find themselves in that sometimes lead to some offending should be a cause of concern, and as a society, as a parliament, as a government, we need to be doing all we can.