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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-02-10 Daily Xml
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SOUTH AUSTRALIA POLICE

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon) (14:40): Could the Minister for Police tell the house of the findings of the Productivity Commission Report on Government Services on South Australia Police?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Police, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Motor Sport, Minister Assisting the Premier with the Olympic Dam Expansion Project) (14:40): I actually can, member.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I was a bit. I figure this is probably the only way I am going to get a question these days.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: No, fear not. I am delighted to inform the house today, and I should pay tribute to the former minister for police because this is during his reign—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: As minister for police in my earlier incarnation, I essentially set up the framework for the next two ministers. The Productivity Commission Report on Government Services: the 2011 survey found that for the sixth year in a row—so, that is three years with minister Wright and three years of minister Holloway, but set up by me—South Australia Police (SAPOL) has the highest percentage of operational police of any other state in Australia with 91.7 per cent of sworn officers performing policing operations. What an outstanding achievement for a very proud Labor government. We have the most police of any state in Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Per capita, South Australia continues to have the highest number of police compared to any other state; that is, 312 police officers per 100,000 people. So, again, South Australians are kept safer because of this Labor government's commitment to police resources.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: And members opposite laugh. We remember the dark days of the mid-1990s when South Australians were very unsafe in their homes and very unsafe in their communities. There were 1,000 less police under the Liberal government in that period than there are today. Unlike the Liberal Party, we care about keeping South Australians safe and we commit to it. Since coming to office, we have increased police expenditure—I am not sure that the current Treasurer will necessarily like this—by 88 per cent and we have put more than 700 extra police on the beat in South Australia.

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The member for Davenport screams and yells as his mate Rob Lucas in another place writes these obscure questions for him and he simply comes into this place to try to cause some difficulty. Let us go on about this survey, and the police commissioner, his senior staff and the force in general can be very proud of this: 82.9 per cent of respondents thought that SAPOL performed its job professionally, the second highest in the nation; 70.9 per cent thought that SAPOL treated people fairly and equally, the third highest in the nation; and, importantly, 80.4 per cent of South Australians thought that most police in South Australia are honest.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Sorry? You think that's funny? The Leader of the Opposition has laughed and mocked the fact that South Australian police are considered to be honest by 80 per cent of the population.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The member for Norwood.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: A bit like Tony Abbott.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes, it happens.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: What we do here in South Australia is we support our police, not just with funding but with a firm commitment of the Labor government to stand with our police, support our police and be proud of our police, unlike members opposite—soft on crime, critical of police; you really should be ashamed.

These excellent survey results show that SAPOL, under the outstanding leadership of the former minister for police, has established an enviable reputation as a professional and ethical police service of which South Australians can be proud. I could go on, because we have invested significantly not just in the number of police but in the equipment and the capital infrastructure needed to underpin our outstanding police force.

Unlike the last Liberal government, we build police stations, we don't close them. We have built new stations at Christies Beach, Golden Grove, Aldinga, Gawler, Mount Barker, Victor Harbor, Berri, Port Lincoln, Newton, Blakeview, Hallett Cove, Pooraka and Kalangadoo.

Mr Whetstone: So why did you sack the police minister?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: A further $115 million in building a new state-of-the-art—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —are you right there?—training academy.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: In my electorate. We will have for our new recruits the best training academy anywhere in Australia; arguably, the best in the western world. As I said, I could go on. We are building more police stations at Roxby Downs, Murray Bridge and Yalata. Remember the shame of the former Liberal government, as the minister for Aboriginal affairs at that time I think the member for Cheltenham would remember, when we came to office the Liberal government did not have a permanent police presence in the APY lands of this state—no permanent police presence.

The Hon. M.D. Rann: Pulled them out.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: They pulled them out. They had no care, no concern, no compassion, no empathy towards the people living on the lands. What have we done? Not only have we put permanent police postings into the APY lands—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The deputy leader is saying, 'Oh, they were okay in Marla.' It was 20 kilometres away. It just shows that the Tories have no idea, compassion or understanding of the plight of Indigenous Australians. We have put serious resources on the lands. We are building homes for our police officers and public servants and, more importantly, we are building permanent police stations. The lands have never been safer than since this Labor government came to office. I will conclude on this point because I think I have made it rather well: we are—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

An honourable member: Just say 'Thank you, Michael' once again.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: You've got to let me take the car for a spin occasionally. This is a government proud of our track record when it comes to policing and we will continue to keep the streets of South Australia safe, unlike the former Liberal government.

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