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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-06-07 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Police Traffic Targets

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police and Minister for Road Safety a question around road safety.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Previously, emails have emerged that showed Holden Hill Senior Sergeant Mr Andrew McCracken required each officer in his LSA to make five arrests and reports; arrest or report two drunk drivers; make nine traffic contacts, including on-the-spot fines; and issue one drug-related fine for minor drug possession. The email also said a minority of officers had failed to reach the targets and that officers who cannot or choose not to reach those benchmarks will need to provide an explanation to their sergeant and to Mr McCracken himself.

The police commissioner at the time, appearing before a parliamentary committee, said he was uncomfortable with aspects of certain police traffic operations and the zero-tolerance approach. Three or four years later, very senior police have expressed disquiet about police targets, saying they hurt relationships between individual officers, particularly in rural communities and in the public. My questions are:

1. Are the police instructed by senior officers to meet targets for traffic and other offences?

2. Who sets these targets and have you as minister ever seen these targets or discussed them with the commissioner?

3. Is it true that officers who fail to meet these targets can be disciplined, fail to be promoted and have adverse career ramifications?

4. Do some LSAs draw up a list of tickets and expiation notices categorised by teams, and is there an official, or unofficial, wooden spoon awarded for the team which has the lowest number of tickets issued over a specific period?

5. Despite these measures and despite the fact the government is now collecting some $144.6 million in traffic fines, why is it that more South Australians are injured in road crashes per head of population than in New South Wales or Western Australia?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:36): First and foremost I would like to commend the outstanding work that is done by all South Australian police when it comes to making a contribution to road safety in South Australia. Over the life of this government there has been a substantial reduction in the number of injuries and deaths that have been occurring on South Australian roads. There are a number of things that have contributed to that success, but one of them has been the incredibly hard work that the South Australian police force has been conducting to make sure that the rules of the road are complied with to ensure that the South Australian community generally remains safe.

In regard to the honourable member's question concerning targets, I am happy to inform the chamber that I have not received any formal specific advice from the police commissioner about actions that he undertakes and processes and procedures that exist internally within SAPOL regarding targets. I am more than happy to take those questions on notice. Generally, it would be my expectation and hope, as I think it would be the hope and expectation of the South Australian community generally, that we have a police commissioner who pays a lot of attention and commitment to ensuring that the rules of the road are complied with.

We know from an enormous amount of experience across the globe, but also locally here in South Australia, that when police aren't doing their job in regard to policing road rules, then people start treating road rules with impunity, and that, of course, endangers lives. We have speed limits in place in South Australia, we have a whole range of other rules in place in South Australia to ensure that the safety of the community is placed first—is placed as a priority—and in turn we expect the police force to be able to ensure that those laws are enforced.

I am happy to take the honourable member's questions on notice in respect to specific targets. Up to this point I haven't received any information on this, and I am happy to ask about that. But, critically, as a parliament I think we should be supporting the police commissioner's endeavours to ensure that the road rules of South Australia are enforced to ensure that the South Australian community remains safe.

The final point I will make goes to the reference that the honourable member made to the large amount of money that is raised through policing of road rules in South Australia. I understand that the principal source of revenue that comes from fines is that which comes from speed cameras. It is a large amount of money, but what people need to constantly remind themselves of is that money raised from speed camera revenue goes into the Community Road Safety Fund. The money raised that goes into the Community Road Safety Fund is invested straight back into measures that are associated with road safety. No-one likes paying a speeding fine, but when they are paid, the money goes into the Community Road Safety Fund and is invested back into road safety measures in South Australia.

Recently, we have seen a few accidents on our roads. They are heartbreaking. I don't think anyone in this chamber would like to see those sorts of accidents repeated. We need to do everything we can to ensure that South Australian roads remain safe, and I endorse the police commissioner's efforts to ensure that that is the case.

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