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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-07 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

MEMBER'S REMARKS

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:18): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: In question time yesterday, the Hon. Terry Stephens MLC made allegations that the police plane was not available for one week out of every four. He stated that the reduction in the service was due to a cost-saving measure. Furthermore, in a supplementary question to me last week, the Hon. Terry Stephens asked whether it was true that officers who relieve on the APY lands are not provided with bush uniforms and must buy their own, even if they are going for a one-week stint. In both cases, the Hon. Terry Stephens is wrong.

Prior to the 2007 enterprise bargaining agreement being ratified on 17 January 2008, South Australia Police rotated staff by aircraft in and out of the APY lands on a weekly basis. The EB 2007 has provided additional shift loadings to personnel deployed to the APY lands and for the use of the police aircraft, where available, on a monthly basis for respite purposes.

I am happy to remind members that the state government's pay offer (which was accepted by 97.2 per cent of the Police Association membership) comprised of an average wage increase of 16 per cent during the three-year life of the enterprise agreement, backdated to 1 July 2007. It also provided incentives to attract police officers to hard to fill country positions in remote parts of South Australia, such as the APY lands.

I am advised by the Commissioner of Police that the increased EB 2007 incentive has enabled SAPOL to fill vacancies; so there is no longer a need to rotate personnel on a weekly basis. SAPOL aircraft flying hours continue to be based on operational requirements and emergency response.

In relation to the supplementary question asked last week, I am advised by South Australia Police that no police officer is asked to—or, in fact, is able to—purchase police khaki uniforms. All officers who are flown to work on the APY lands, even if it is for a period of one week, are provided with police khaki uniforms, which are purchased by the Northern Operation Service. My suggestion to the Hon. Terry Stephens MLC is that he should check his facts before making any further unsubstantiated allegations.

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