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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-13 Daily Xml
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APY LANDS

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (15:16): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Police a question on the subject of police presence on the APY Lands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: The government, in its response to the Mullighan report entitled 'Children on the APY Lands: Report into sexual abuse', reassured the community by saying that police presence is being increased on the Lands. In response to the recommendation of commissioner Mullighan that police be placed there as a matter of urgency, the government said:

As an immediate response, the commonwealth government has committed $15 million for infrastructure on the Lands on top of an earlier commitment of 7.5 for two police stations.

The state government went on to say:

The commonwealth government is providing demountable buildings and is currently upgrading them to make them suitable as temporary staff housing and office accommodation for police officers. The state has requested leases from the APY executive to enable the demountables to be placed at Umuwa on serviced blocks. This request will be considered by the APY executive in late August.

The general manager of the APY Lands, Mr Ken Newman, was recently on 639 ABC Radio saying:

...we've been advised there's about a 12 to 15 month delay in actually building police stations and police accommodations at three main communities...

They have been lobbying the police and the government to place temporary accommodation on those communities. Mr Newman also notes that, despite the fact that the government has given assurances that 10 community constable positions have been created, only three of those have been filled and that there is still a deficiency of some seven Aboriginal community constables. My questions to the minister are:

1. Has the APY executive cleared the location of temporary demountable buildings on the Lands?

2. Given the immediate needs on the Lands and the fact that the commonwealth government has committed significant funds to establish demountable buildings, why is it taking some 12 to 15 months to establish those demountable buildings on the Lands?

3. Does the government agree with the proposition that most of the 10 community constable positions have not been filled; why have they not been filled; and when will they be filled?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:19): I will refer the honourable member's questions to the relevant ministers in another place. I think at least some of them would need to be directed to the Minister for Police, as well as to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. I have to say that I find it astounding that the honourable member can stand opposite me and ask questions of this nature. The audacity of it—when the former Liberal government had the most appalling track record in terms of the provision of police services and other support services on the lands. He should hang his head in shame.

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