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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-02-19 Daily Xml
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POLICE NUMBERS

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:31): My question is for the Minister for Police. How will the government achieve savings of $150 million and yet grow police numbers with no new budget allocation, given that the police commissioner and the minister himself have said that this is not possible?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Finance, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:31): As Minister for Police, I'd like to extend my congratulations to the member for Stuart, on his appointment as the shadow minister for police in the outer cabinet, and the Hon. Stephen Wade, shadow minister for police in the inner cabinet. I have yet to come to grips with the ins and outs of the ins and outs. All I see in my portfolio area is a recipe—

The SPEAKER: A point of order from the member for Davenport.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: The minister is not addressing the substance of the question.

The SPEAKER: I invite the Minister for Police to come a little closer to the substance of the question.

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: In answer to—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: No, it's a point worth making because confusion reigns supreme in my portfolio area.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Is it the same point of order?

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: No, it's actually a more severe point of order: the minister is ignoring your ruling.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I will be the judge of whether the minister is ignoring my ruling. Minister for Police.

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: I think the Premier has clearly articulated the issue. We have savings challenges which, for a number of agencies, including SAPOL, will be challenging. There is an expectation that those savings objectives will be met, and they will be met within the context of setting the next budget.

As the Premier has outlined, I had the privilege to be in Murray Bridge, I think last Friday, to open a new police station. We have the highest number of front-line police per capita in the nation. We have achieved that outcome for six clear years in a row; it's not something that we have arrived at of late.

We have attained a position of pre-eminence in the nation in terms of the staffing of our police force; that has translated into a 36 per cent reduction in crime. There is a clear correlation between the resources that this Labor government has committed to SAPOL and the results that SAPOL is getting in the field. Then as I mentioned, we opened the new police station in Murray Bridge, a $12.6 million development, a new police complex, a headquarters for the eastern region of the state. We have committed—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Police will be seated. The question is relevance?

Ms CHAPMAN: Indeed. So far, Mr Speaker, the minister has not gone anywhere near identifying how he intends to reach the savings.

The SPEAKER: Yes, yes, I think I understand what the point of order is without your making an impromptu speech. Could you be seated. The Minister for Police, would he answer the substance of the question, please?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: I think I have covered the matter in some detail. It should be of some interest to you, because I was going to give you some detail on our investment in regional South Australia in addition to the considerable amount we have put into the Murray Bridge facility, but I think I have covered the ground.

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