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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-09-09 Daily Xml
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CRIME RATES

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:18): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning, representing the Minister for Police, a question regarding crime rates in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: I was concerned to note that a new Australian Bureau of Statistics report released on 27 August showed that South Australia now has the highest number of criminal offences per capita of any mainland state. 'Recorded Crime Offenders 2007-08' is the first publication in a new series released by the ABS that details the number and characteristics of alleged offenders aged 10 years and over for each state and territory. I note that Western Australia was excluded from the survey, but those figures were provided elsewhere.

The ABS release published details of crime rates by state for 2008, and they showed the following: New South Wales had approximately 109,000 reported offenders, or some 1,800 per 100,000 population; Queensland had some 79,000 offenders, or about 2,150 per 100,000 population; and Victoria had some 48,300 offenders, or about 1,050 per 100,000 population. Western Australia (based on University of Western Australia figures) had some 36,800 distinct offenders, or about 1,185 per 100,000. This compares to South Australia, which identified some 34,500 distinct offenders, which, for the population of our state, means about 2,454 offenders per 100,000 population. These new figures show that only Tasmania and the Northern Territory have higher per capita numbers of offenders than South Australia. My questions to the minister are:

1. How does the government account for these figures?

2. Is South Australia's tradition of lax drug laws, with cannabis in particular, which has seen gangs and bikie groups use South Australia as a base for their operations, a contributing reason for these high figures?

3. Is a lenient justice system partly responsible for failing to send a strong message to repeat offenders?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:21): I am no longer the police minister, so I do not have access to the latest statistics or analysis. What I do know—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, they were, actually. What I do know from that era is that there are two main ways in which crime is measured: one, of course, is victim-reported crime, and the other is the statistics in the courts. Because we have more police per head of population than every other state in the country—we have had big increases—it is not surprising that apprehension for crimes in this state may well be higher than in those states that have fewer police per capita.

If I understand the figures used by the honourable member, he is essentially talking about apprehensions. To get a good picture of crime, as I indicated when I was asked questions as the police minister, you need to look at victim-reported crime, which is done through an ABS survey and which gives you a more reliable indication of the actual crime rate. I am happy to refer the question to my colleague, the Minister for Police, and bring back a reply.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Perhaps I will add, if the interjections of the Leader of the Opposition cease—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I do not know that what anyone who runs around like a Teletubby in a blue boiler suit says will be taken too seriously.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Yes. One might have hoped that one would never see the day when a leader of an opposition in a major parliament would go around performing stunts in a boiler suit; but, there you are, we do live in changing times. One has to look at crime statistics, and one has to be careful in drawing conclusions. Like all statistics, the statistics for apprehension are likely to indicate and reflect higher apprehension rates, which in turn could reflect the higher police numbers in the state.

In relation to the other question that the honourable member asked about things like drugs, of course, with the honourable member's help I indicate that we have introduced tough laws in relation to bikies and we have also toughened up significantly in relation to laws on drugs. One would expect that to be reflected in, first, higher apprehension rates in the short term, and then, hopefully, when these people learn that they can get an easier time in Victoria or other states that do not have these sorts of laws, the problem will be exported there. However, we will have to wait and see. What I can say is that this state will not let up in its efforts to get on top of those sorts of issues.

In relation to the courts, I will leave it to the Attorney-General to comment upon the toughness of the courts.

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