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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-17 Daily Xml
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POLICE PHOTO IDENTIFICATION

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Police. Can the minister advise the house of responses to SAPOL's briefings regarding the use of photographs as a means of identification and their progress in garnering support for this proposal?

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) (14:55): I thank the member for Mitchell for his question, and I appreciate his unwavering and consistent support for SAPOL and the use of modern policing techniques. In 2011 SAPOL provided briefings to parliamentarians explaining existing procedures as well as the benefits of using photographic boards for identifying suspects.

It is my political judgement that it would be a distortion of the science and reckless lawmaking. With a photo board there is no safeguard against police suggestion. One thing is clear from the briefings from SA Police: SAPOL practice does not follow best practice. It would be bizarre for us to treat lightly an area of law which is like a bagful of seeds for potential miscarriages of justice.

These are the contributions of the shadow attorney-general last year when the government had this legislation in the parliament.

On 19 September this year, SAPOL contacted my office with very positive news that the opposition may be reconsidering their view on this proposal and offered to further brief the shadow attorney-general, the Hon. Stephen Wade. The shadow attorney-general's office was contacted that very day, and on 20 September we were advised that their position was unchanged and no briefing would be required. Given the importance of this issue, a further offer was made for a police briefing, even if the opposition policy had not changed. I am advised that a response was received on 21 September rejecting any and all discussion on the issue.

I want to commend SAPOL for their ongoing effort to educate policymakers about this issue. You can imagine my pleasant surprise yesterday at the Police Association conference, as the Leader of the Opposition embraced this policy as her own and stated, 'Line-ups consume up to 60 hours of work by 10 police officers,' the precise argument put forward by Labor at the 2010 election and the Attorney-General in the 2010 election. By coincidence, this is the same argument lambasted by the shadow attorney-general; but today the shadow attorney-general—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —is reported as saying:

It is not a change of direction. The section that allows for this type of evidence would only become operative when regulations are in place that provide adequate police resources to make sure the procedure is properly conducted.

I would be very pleased to hear a commitment about police resources and police numbers. We have had nothing but silence on this issue. Nothing at estimates and nothing said yesterday about police numbers—

Mr GARDNER: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, sit down. Point of order.

Mr GARDNER: Madam Speaker, I haven't been timing, but it feels like this answer has been going for at least 15 minutes. Can you please end it?

The SPEAKER: No; she has 37 seconds left.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. It just goes to show how convincing SAPOL can be, particularly when the leader is facing a police conference.

The SPEAKER: Time can pass very slowly in this chamber, member for Morialta. Fifteen years for me feels like 137. The minister was well within her time. The member for Davenport.

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