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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-11-13 Daily Xml
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Police Animals

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Police. Can the minister confirm that the police greys and the police dog squad have been tasked to meet a budget savings of around $10,000, whether this is for each operational arm or a shared target, and whether the cuts will mean less or poorer quality food for the animals or reduced conditions for the staff and animals?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:58): I thank the member for Florey for allowing me to clarify this Labor lie. This is something that has been perpetuated in the public and it is another Labor lie, and it is an absolute disgrace. To accuse the police commissioner of malnourishing the dogs and horses within SAPOL is a blight on the commissioner—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —and it's a blight on SAPOL. There has been no directive whatsoever given, so it is an absolute lie that has been perpetuated in the media. I cannot for the life of me work out why the police commissioner was not phoned up and asked, 'You're in charge of the police budget. What are you actually doing here?' If you actually made that phone call you would find that there was an allocation of money put towards food last year for the horses and the dogs, as there is every year, and whoever was using that budget to acquire the food actually underspent so that there was money left over. The horses were fed; the horses will always be fed exactly as they are, as will the dogs, and I can say that they are much loved.

I have been out there and seen the greys, and I know the member for Florey would be a big fan of the greys. They do an outstanding job on patrol and they are a great resource for SAPOL, as are the dogs. That was the case—they actually underspent their budget and that money was used in other areas. If the dogs need more food or if the horses need more food, they will be given more food. The police commissioner has given the guarantee. To assert that SAPOL and/or the commissioner would not feed the dogs and not feed the horses is ludicrous, and those on the other side who have perpetuated this should be ashamed of themselves.

The SPEAKER: Supplementary, and then the member for Torrens.

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