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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-02-12 Daily Xml
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POLICE, PERFORMANCE

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (16:05): I was so impressed with the Hon. Stephen Wade's mentioning of the Productivity Commission Report that I have a question about it. I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police a question about the Productivity Commission Report 2008.

Leave granted.

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN: The 2008 Productivity Commission report on Government Services was released last week, and I understand it includes some very positive statistics about the level of satisfaction expressed by South Australians with our police force. Will the minister provide details about this level of satisfaction and other positive information in the Productivity Commission report about the South Australia Police?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (16:06): I am absolutely delighted to be able to do that, because the increasing majority of South Australians believe that the South Australia Police are performing their job professionally and are honest. It is heartening to find the efforts being made by the state government and the leadership of the South Australia Police is being reflected in glowing responses to an independent survey of the state of government services in this country.

The Productivity Commission, the Australian government's principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy and regulation, in its latest report found that SAPOL and its officers continued to gain high praise from the community which it serves. Its latest survey found that, of those people who have had contact with South Australia Police in the past 12 months, 85 per cent were either very satisfied or satisfied with the service provided—the highest percentage in Australia and an increase of 3.2 percentage points from 2005-06.

Of those surveyed by the Productivity Commission, 84.2 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that the South Australia Police perform the job professionally. The survey also found 79.4 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that South Australia Police were honest. Both percentages were the highest in the nation and an improvement on the commission's previous survey in 2005-06.

The number of complaints made against South Australia Police has fallen in the past year. The commission report shows complaints per 100,000 people fell to 71 in 2006-07 compared with 78 in 2005-06. The excellent 2006-07 survey results show that SAPOL has established an enviable reputation as a professional and ethical police service of which South Australians can be proud.

South Australia also continues to lead the nation with the highest percentage of police staff assigned to operational duties. I know that some members opposite would like to suggest that, despite record numbers of police officers in this state, many are kept away from operational duties, but the Productivity Commission—and this is an independent agency with no axe to grind on behalf of this government—puts the lie to those statements, with the latest figures showing that 89.5 per cent of SAPOL staff are assigned to operational duties. That is the highest percentage of police on operational duties of any jurisdiction in Australia, and well above its national average of 82.7 per cent. Almost 90 per cent of sworn officers, that is, SAPOL staff that are able to exercise police powers, including the power to arrest, summons, caution, detain, fingerprint and search, are on operational duty in South Australia, an achievement other state police can only look at with envy.

It was interesting that last night on television I saw the shadow minister for police outside an office saying that we should have a police officer here behind a desk, and then he was saying that there are not enough police because there are too many behind desks. He wanted to put one behind a desk. In fact, those officers at the police station were actually out there in a patrol vehicle trying to catch criminals, which is much better than having them behind a desk. He was saying, 'Look, here it is. There isn't one behind a desk, because there are too many behind desks.' It is strange logic.

The Productivity Commission also confirms that this state Labor government is spending more on police services per head of population. The commission report shows that South Australia spent $303 per person in 2006-07, which is much higher than the $262 per person spent on police services in 2001-02. As police minister, I am proud to say that funding for SAPOL has never been higher. It is no wonder that, with so many police on the beat in South Australia, 83.6 per cent of those surveyed by the Productivity Commission felt safe or very safe at home alone after dark, which is up from 82.7 per cent in 2005-06. Of those surveyed, 61.7 per cent felt safe or very safe walking or jogging locally after dark—up more than 20 percentage points, from 40.9 per cent in 2005-06.

The independent report also shows that South Australians are less likely to be victims of crime, with the crime rate per 100,000 persons falling across a range of offences since 2002, including murder, which has fallen from 1.9 recorded victims per 100,000 persons in 2002 to 1.0 in 2006. Attempted murder has fallen from 2.6 recorded victims per 100,000 persons in 2002 to 2.3 in 2006. Unarmed robbery recorded a significant fall, from 72.4 recorded victims per 100,000 persons in 2002 to 42.5 in 2006. The figures are down for sexual assault, from 106.8 recorded victims per 100,000 persons in 2002 to 96.7 in 2006.

South Australians are also much less likely to be victims of property crime than they were six years ago, with falls in all areas, including unlawful entry with intent, which fell from 2,176.5 recorded victims per 100,000 persons in 2002 to just 1,474.1 victims in 2006. Unlawful entry with intent involving the taking of property fell from 1,433.7 recorded victims per 100,000 in 2002 to 922.9 in 2006. Motor vehicle theft fell from 738.4 recorded victims per 100,000 in 2002 to 512.9 recorded victims per 100,000 persons in 2006. Other theft fell from 5,214 in 2002 to 3,166.5 in 2006.

Essentially, this independent report shows that South Australia is a safe place to live and raise a family and that people living here believe that they are less likely to become victims of crime. My ministerial colleague the Hon. Carmel Zollo will also be pleased to hear that South Australia recorded the second lowest rate of road fatalities in the nation, with nine road deaths per 100,000 registered vehicles, down from 13 per 100,000 in 2005-06. Our aim is to keep working, through our road safety campaign, to lower those fatalities even further. I am sure that no minister works harder than my colleague to achieve those objectives.

In order for SAPOL to effectively carry out its aim of keeping South Australia safe, this state government believes that it needs three essential tools. First, it needs a sufficient number of police officers, and the state is now on its way to increasing police numbers to a record 4,400 by 2010. The second tool needed by SAPOL is supporting legislation. This government has already introduced a number of far-reaching changes to the law, and we will be looking at a lot more in this chamber fairly soon.

The third essential tool required by SAPOL is, of course, high quality physical assets, such as the Ron Jeffrey. This is a purpose-built 7.2-metre catamaran named after retired police diver Senior Sergeant Ron Jeffrey. Late last month, it was my privilege to take part in the commissioning ceremony for the Ron Jeffrey, which is the latest recruit to SAPOL's water operations unit.

The Ron Jeffrey was built for South Australia Police by boat builders Noosacat Australia, which is the company used by almost every statutory or government authority in this country that deals with oceans and waterways. The $285,000 price tag for the Ron Jeffrey includes twin 225-horsepower Yamaha four-stroke engines. Based at SAPOL's water operations unit at Semaphore, the Ron Jeffrey can be transported by trailer (a very big trailer) to be used in police operations throughout the state. The Ron Jeffrey replaces the decommissioned police launch Pedro Warman and complements the existing SAPOL fleet.

When taking the new vessel through its paces, the officers of the Water Operations Unit informed me that it was the first time for a long time in their memory that a purpose-built craft specifically built for SAPOL had been commissioned for the service. Until now this hard-working police unit has had to make do with cast-offs from other agencies such as Fisheries to perform their important tasks of sea search and rescue. It took the Rann government to provide the funding necessary to acquire a purpose-built craft of which the police service in this state can be proud.

So this government does not just talk tough on crime. This government backs up its talk with the resources required to maintain what the Productivity Commission report shows is the most honest, professional police service in Australia.

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