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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-07-03 Daily Xml
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Question Time

OPERATION MANDRAKE

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:20): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police a question about Operation Mandrake.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: On 18 June this year it was reported on the Adelaidenow website by Sam Rodrigues, police reporter:

Three men on a crime rampage smashed their way into a beachfront house last night, threatening a man with a screwdriver and shards of glass before stealing his car. The men broke into the Somerton Park house, on The Esplanade, at about 10pm by smashing a rear window. The men threatened the male resident with a screwdriver and shards of glass from the window, forcing him to hand over a wallet and the keys to his grey Honda Euro sedan...before fleeing in the car. The man was not injured.

Inside the car was a doctor's bag with what the police have said contains a 'small amount' of pain medication. The same car was involved in a petrol drive-off at the BP station at Kurralta Park at about 12.30am, and then was used in a hotel robbery in the northern suburbs. Three men of Aboriginal appearance used concrete blocks and a baseball bat to threaten three staff after breaking into the gaming room in the Mawson Lakes Hotel in Main Street just before 3am. None of the staff members were injured. Elizabeth police said the men stole items from inside before leaving the Honda Euro.

The opposition has been provided with some information from within SAPOL in relation to the incident, as follows. On Tuesday evening 17 June there was a home invasion at Somerton Park and a break-in at the Mawson Lakes Hotel. Government sources have advised they were Aboriginal offenders. The car was stolen from Somerton Park and chased three or four times between 10pm and 2am. SAPOL refused to put the helicopter out to help with the apprehension, despite constant requests by the patrols and the sergeant.

Only when the Mawson Lakes break-in was followed by another chase was the helicopter put in to assist. The problem, we were advised, is that the Star Operation members, that is, the air crew, finish very early each night and are not readily available. The police on the ground are sick of not being supported, and we are advised that these are regular events. My questions are:

1. Does the minister now concede that the Rann government is not resourcing SAPOL adequately and is putting the public and our hard working police officers at risk?

2. Is this lack of resourcing now undermining Operation Mandrake?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:22): It is not bad, is it, when in the budget, which will be coming into the council later today, this government has put in a record amount of funding, as it has done every single year. There are record numbers of police, record funding, and a number of brand new police. Really, for members opposite to talk about crime is a disgrace.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: What will happen? I will tell you what the public will be saying at the next election: they will be weighing up the record of this government against the record of members opposite. I had a look at the record of performance of these people opposite for the eight years they were in government, Mr President. Do you know what happened to the crime rate under members opposite? I am sure members opposite will not want to hear it but, from 2002, under this government overall crime has fallen by a massive 33.6 per cent, which includes 16 fewer murders, 369 fewer robberies, 12,600 fewer break and enters and 3,000 fewer cars stolen in South Australia. That is since 2002 under this government.

What happened in the eight years previous to that? Under the Liberals' watch, crime rose by 31 per cent so, instead of a reduction of 33.6 per cent, they had a rise in the eight years by 31 per cent. Police statistics show that 156,661 offences were reported in 1994-95; in 2001-02 that had risen to 206,474, an increase of 31 per cent. There was an increase of just under 50,000 more offences: murder, serious assault and minor assault went up; there were more criminal trespass offences; and theft from motor vehicles rose by an amazing 95.6 per cent while they were in government.

I will come to the helicopter in a moment, because guess what happened when the Liberals were in government? Did the police have a dedicated helicopter at their disposal? Do you know how many helicopters there are in South Australia under this government? There are three helicopters available under this government for medical retrieval and a number of other uses, but I will come to that in a moment.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: Answer the question.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I am answering the question comprehensively because it needs to be put in perspective. I do not know what was the situation, but I know that this government has provided, as well as a new aircraft for the police, a whole lot of new police stations, new armour and, by the end of the term of this government, an extra 600 or 700 police officers, record budgets and the first new boat for the water police and all the other equipment. In relation to emergency helicopters, this government negotiated a situation where three helicopters are available to the emergency services.

The Hon. S.G. Wade interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, there is not: they actually have people at the airport.

The Hon. S.G. Wade interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: That's what he claims, yes, but why not go down to the Adelaide Airport and see the room where the pilots sleep? They are available. Occasionally you might have an emergency, such as a medical retrieval, and the helicopters may have to be diverted, but the police are unlikely to launch a helicopter for every crime investigation. Obviously there has to be a reasonable chance of intercepting or being able to observe the offenders.

When we came to government, I spoke to the pilots. There was just one helicopter and it needed to be maintained regularly and able to do all the functions. We now have three, but they had one. The one helicopter was so slow, the pilots told me, that if they were chasing a commodore they would see it vanish into the distance: the helicopter could not even keep up with some of the cars. That was the situation that faced the police during the now opposition's time in government. Perhaps that is why crime went up 33.6 per cent.

In relation to the helicopter, under this government a huge increase in resources has been provided for the helicopters for emergency services. They are available for all emergency services; there are three different sizes and they can be converted for medical retrieval. Whether they are available at a particular time will depend on the other operational arrangements, but there are sleeping quarters at Adelaide Airport. The helicopters are housed on the western edge of the airport behind Harbour Town and there are facilities there for pilots to be on call when required.

In relation to the operational mix, I will get a report. Certainly the last thing anyone in this parliament would want to do is accept the word of the opposition, because it has been proved wrong time and again. In relation to crime overall, it has no story; all it can do is hide the shame of its performance during eight years in government.

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