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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-06-12 Daily Xml
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CRIME STATISTICS

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (14:42): Can the Minister for Police update the house on recent crime data released from the ABS?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:42): I thank the member for Light for his question and commend him for his keen interest in community safety. The ABS released crime data for the calendar year 2011 last Thursday. This is one of a variety of sources, including SAPOL annual reports and the Office of Crime Statistics and Research website, that makes statistics available on offences ranging from murder to assault, car theft and robbery.

Ms Chapman: What about being handcuffed in prison?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Crime and crime fighting are long-term issues. Success is not measured in small snapshots but in real progress over time, and I am pleased to inform the house that, regardless of which set of statistics you look at, crime is substantially down in South Australia.

Compared to 2002, the data released last week by the ABS showed: motor vehicle theft down 60 per cent and other theft down 48 per cent; unlawful entry down 49 per cent; robbery down almost 37 per cent; blackmail and extortion down 33 per cent; sexual assault down 17 per cent; homicide and related offences down 16 per cent; and assault down 2 per cent. This report also showed that South Australia is one of the most transparent jurisdictions in the country. We record—

Ms Chapman: Except women in prison.

The SPEAKER: Member for Bragg, order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —an assault even if the victim chooses not to proceed. I certainly recommend that the opposition actually read these reports properly before they make public statements. I was very disturbed last week to hear the shadow minister for police claiming that there had been 57 homicides in South Australia—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order: the minister is now debating the answer. We don't want to know whether she was disappointed about what he said. That is debate; it is not factual.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. The member will sit down. Minister, we will hear your answer.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Madam Speaker, this simply is not the case. The actual number of homicides was 27, two fewer than when the Liberals were last in office. But if we were to compare homicide and related offences, that is, attempted murder and the like, there were 68 in 2002, and 57 in 2011—11 less.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: I won't go into detail by offence, but SAPOL annual reports over the same period have shown a reduction in victim-reported crime of about 37 per cent—in real terms, a reduction of 79,000 offences per year. That means 200 fewer South Australian households every day who are not victims of vandalism, robbery, assault or worse.

It was also pleasing to hear Assistant Commissioner Madeleine Glynn in the media last week providing the latest crime figures: year to date victim-reported crime is down more than 4 per cent; crimes against the person, such as assault and robbery, are down more than 5 per cent and have been coming down for the last four years; crimes against a person involving a firearm are also decreasing, from around 270 last year to 220 this financial year; and robbery is down 13 per cent. Only the Liberals would complain when results like this are achieved.

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