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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-29 Daily Xml
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APY LANDS, COMMUNITY CONSTABLES

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:32): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government questions about Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The Leader of the Government has persistently asserted in this house that the Labor government has enhanced policing of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands. In 2002, when this Labor government took power, there were 12 community constable positions on the APY lands and all of them were filled. This fact was noted in the findings of the 2002 coronial inquest into three petrol sniffing deaths. UnitingCare Wesley has highlighted the fact that today, after 10 years of Labor, only three of the 12 community constable positions on the APY and Yalata lands are filled.

In April 2011, Steven Marshall, the member for Norwood, did a freedom of information request seeking any review or assessment of the community constable scheme. No documents were released, but the reply did confirm that evaluations of the APY—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —and Yalata community constable and police Aboriginal liaison officer programs were undertaken in December 2010 and March 2011. My questions to the minister are:

1. Is the government committed to the community constable program on the APY lands?

2. What was the outcome of the evaluation of the community constable program?

3. When will the remaining community constable positions be filled?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:33): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. Clearly, they are the responsibility of the Minister for Police, and I am happy to refer them—

The Hon. S.G. Wade: Well, you spruik it when it suits you.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Don't worry. I will get around to spruiking. Don't worry; I haven't finished yet. I will refer the details of those to the Minister for Police in another place, and I am happy to bring back a response.

I have been advised that, indeed, this government's track record in relation to policing, not only overall but in relation to the APY lands, far outdoes and exceeds anything that the former Liberal government ever performed. It far exceeds overall. We will stand by our track record, and I will put our track record up against the former Liberal government any day of the week. In fact, I do not know how the honourable members can stand up straight in their places and talk about policing in this place. When we look at policing overall, we see that SAPOL and our ABS statistics show that the crime rate in South Australia has fallen by 35 per cent, including a 3.5 per cent in reduction in victim reported crime.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Statistics show that in 2009-10 the biggest fall in crime occurred in offences against persons—things like murders, attempted murders, serious assaults and assaults on police. The number of violent offences in South Australia has dropped from 293.3 per 100,000 persons under the former Liberal government down to just 189.6 in 2009-10—in terms of policing numbers, as I said, any day of the week.

There are 4,400 full-time equivalent police officers in SA, which is 700 more than when Labor took office in 2002—700 more police. The government plans to recruit additional police over the next 3½ years. We have a commitment to do that, so our commitment is continuing. Our government's commitment to boosting police resources has resulted in hundreds of extra front-line police being delivered.

Our latest report from the Productivity Commission shows that SA continues to have the highest number of police per capita of any state. South Australia has 312 operational police staff for every 100,000 persons. The next closest is Queensland, with 293, and Western Australia has 281, and Victoria and New South Wales fall far behind with just 236 and 234 respectively.

This government has delivered South Australia's largest ever police station construction program. Since 2002, new police stations have been opened at Roxby, Golden Grove, Aldinga, Gawler, Mount Barker, Victor Harbor, Berri, Port Lincoln, Newton, Blakeview, Hallett Cove, Pooraka, Amata, Mimili, and Ernabella. There is a further $115 million worth of new building works currently under construction, including a brand-new state-of-the-art police academy headquarters in the city and new police facilities at Yalata and Murray Bridge.

Funding for our SAPOL operations has been boosted to $693 million in 2010-11, a massive increase of 88 per cent more than the last Liberal budget in 2001-02. I will stack our police records up against the former Liberal government's pathetic, atrocious, disgraceful and irresponsible track record any day of any week. Our track record stands for itself.

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