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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-31 Daily Xml
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BAY TO BIRDWOOD

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Police. Why does the South Australian police department no longer have adequate resources to control one-way traffic on the Bay to Birdwood route between Tea Tree Gully and Birdwood? With your leave and that of the house, I will explain—

The SPEAKER: Member for Morphett, that was a question that had argument in it. However, continue with your explanation.

Dr McFETRIDGE: The question will be put into context, Madam Speaker, by the explanation. Thousands of spectators and vintage car enthusiasts participate in this major tourist attraction, which has remained unchanged since 1986. The opposition is advised that the provision on one-way traffic was introduced in 1986 because of safety concerns for the Bay to Birdwood participants. The Vintage Sports Car Club of South Australia has stated:

...because SAPOL is of the opinion that it cannot justify the resources required to control the one-way traffic provisions, the section of the route from Tea Tree Gully to Birdwood will no longer be one-way traffic.

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) (15:01): Just a couple of things in response to this particular question. First and foremost, the commissioner makes a decision about how he allocates resources and I have every confidence that if he says that this is not an appropriate use of policing resources then perhaps it is not an appropriate use of policing resources. My understanding is that this particular year is no different to what it was last year, but the police are working with all the agencies and organisations that are involved in this.

To say that the police do not have enough resources to service South Australians generally is quite a different thing, and I can say very categorically that we have almost doubled the police budget here in South Australia. We have 700 more sworn police officers here in South Australia, we are boosting their resources by another 313, and we have something like 1,000 support people supporting South Australian police in their duties.

We have had a very strong history over the last 10 years of not only providing the police with the resources they need to do their jobs, but also with the tools to do their jobs; that is, the appropriate legislation that allows them to do their jobs, very strong policies in supporting South Australian police. However, I have to say that the last time I looked at the Liberal Party website it had no policy documents whatsoever about the police, and when you log in and say 'police/law/corrections/road safety' it says, 'Coming soon'.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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