Youth Crime

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:20): A supplementary, sir.

The PRESIDENT: Even after the minister was so nice to you, you still want to ask a supplementary? A supplementary question, the Hon. Dennis Hood.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: I thank the Attorney for his answer. It is a serious issue, as I think we all acknowledge. Does the Attorney have the power to declare a public precinct of his own volition without a police application? If so, has he considered that for this particular jurisdiction?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:20): I will double-check, but I am almost certain that under how the act works it is an application that is made from the police to me. It is the police who gather the evidence. There are certain statutory requirements about what is needed to make the declaration, which includes demonstrating evidence that it is needed for the safety of the community.

I will double-check, but I am 90 per cent sure that it is not something I initiate myself. It is something that SAPOL—which has the resources, the understanding, the availability of statistics—initiates and then, if the evidence is there to support the making of it, refer it to me. If that is incorrect I am happy to bring back an answer, but I am certain that is the way it works.