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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-31 Daily Xml
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POLICE, UNSWORN STAFF

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (15:14): Can the Minister for Police inform the house about the government's support for non-sworn staff in SAPOL and say if a reduction of these vital workers would affect community safety or affect the productivity of front-line police?

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) (15:15): I thank the member for Light for his question, and I know he is interested in every aspect of community safety. When Labor was elected in 2002, the 2000-01 SAPOL annual report showed that 3,750 full-time sworn and 806 unsworn staff were employed. The annual report tabled this month shows 4,606 sworn staff (an increase of 22.8 per cent) and 1,032 unsworn staff (an increase of 28 per cent). Both of these increases are many times the 8 per cent increase in our state's population over the same period. This government offers no apology for investing in more police in South Australia and more people to support our officers. This has been an investment in safe communities and is paying real dividends.

SAPOL's unsworn employees perform vital work. They answer hundreds of thousands of calls for police assistance every year, they are involved in fingerprint and forensic work, collect and analyse crime data, provide protective security work at critical government buildings, monitor CCTVs, provide critical administration that keeps more police in the field more of the time, and manage SAPOL's budget—a budget that has doubled in a decade.

It would have been almost impossible for South Australia to have the highest rate of operational police of any state for the last five years if we did not have the right staff supporting them. I was very concerned when the Leader of the Opposition announced her plan to slash a quarter of the Public Service in this state—

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: The minister is entering debate, standing order 98, and also—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: —it is hypothetical, Madam Speaker, as the Leader of the Opposition made it crystal clear that is not the opposition's policy. The minister is bordering on—

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: —misleading the house if she continues down that line.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I refer you back to the question, minister.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Madam Speaker, I understand that the claim was that they would come from back office positions, and that provided no comfort whatsoever. Unsworn staff are less than 20 per cent of SAPOL's workforce, so even if you sacked every back office person, you would still have to find more from somewhere to reach this target. And then what?

The 450,000 calls to the 131 444 line in 2011-12—more than 88 per cent of which got answered in less than 10 seconds—would simply have rung out. If a call is not answered, the police don't know you need help. We would have switched off the CCTV cameras in the city and leave public servants in sensitive departments unprotected. There would be no accountants and finance staff to keep track of a budget, as I said, that has more than doubled to $767 million in the last decade—

Mr MARSHALL: Madam Speaker, the minister is not addressing the substance of the question at all, she is making a whole speech about—

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you—

Mr MARSHALL: —a hypothetical situation which is misleading the house.

The SPEAKER: The question said, 'Would a reduction in vital workers,' so I am sorry, I do not uphold that; she is answering that. Minister, have you finished?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: No, Madam Speaker, I haven't finished.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: If they are so embarrassed by the crime statistics—I know they are up 50,000 under them, and down by about 80,000 under Labor—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

Mr MARSHALL: Could we have a ruling on this please, Madam Speaker? There has been more than four minutes. They are—

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr MARSHALL: —using up vital time when we want to pursue important questions—

The SPEAKER: Thank you—

Mr MARSHALL: —that are important to the people of South Australia.

The SPEAKER: When you have a point of order, deputy leader, you do not make a speech with it; you come up with your point of order and that is it. You tend to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I think you are going to need some counselling on this. But, minister, I would refer you back to the question, and you only have 55 seconds.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: These people provide really vital services. My advice to whoever ends up being the police spokesperson: don't shoot the messenger and don't sack the political, sorry, the critical public servants who support—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —who support our police every day.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Ask a question. Earn your pay. Ask a question.

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister for mines, order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! You just questioned the minister wasting time and yet you are sitting there wasting time yourself. Member for Unley.

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