Westlakes Police Numbers

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Speakers - Hunter Mr Jeff; Whelan Mr Paul
Business - Private Members Statements

WESTLAKES POLICE NUMBERS

Mr HUNTER (Lake Macquarie) [6.34]: This evening I raise the issue of Westlakes policing, in particular the police strength of the Toronto patrol, which covers Toronto and Morisset in the Westlakes area. I have raised this issue on numerous occasions and will continue in my efforts to see the authorised police strength at local police stations increased. On 14 September 1994 an article appeared in the Post under the heading "Police Beat with Darrell Ford". The article stated:

The apparent lack of police officers in the Hunter, and Westlakes in particular, was the subject of a meeting with the Hunter Labor Parliamentary Members and the area's Police Commander last week.

Jeff Hunter, MLA Lake Macquarie, raised concerns about police staffing levels with the District Commander, Heinz Moeller . . .

He said -

that means me -

those officers were responsible for the Morisset, Wyee and Cooranbong areas when additional assistance was required and when the Morisset station was closed late at night.

"The official line from police at the meeting was that staff levels were adequate in the Westlakes" Mr Hunter said.

I also pointed out that people of Westlakes did not believe staffing numbers were adequate. On 3 May the Morisset branch of the Australian Labor Party sent a letter to me calling for extra general duties police officers to be placed on duty in the local area and calling for the upgrading of Morisset police station to a 24-hour service. On 2 November 1994 an article about a campaign to boost police numbers in the Westlakes region appeared in the Post. The article said that the area had been given a boost with the release of a document detailing the current staffing shortages in the area. The Toronto and Morisset Community Consultative Committees put in a submission for additional police. That submission was sent to the former Minister for Police, the Hon. Garry West. I gave a copy to the current Minister for Police, the Hon. Paul Whelan.

That document was very well prepared and I quoted from it in Parliament not long after its release. I said it was an excellent submission and would go a long way to prove the need for extra police in Westlakes. The submission outlined the size of the Toronto patrol area from Teralba in the north to Wyee in the south. It covers all of the Westlakes area and includes approximately 450 square kilometres on the western side of Lake Macquarie. That equates to 70 per cent of the total land area of Lake Macquarie City. Thus the size of the Toronto patrol area is unique in the Hunter region. I have pointed out that the patrol area includes numerous kilometres of freeway, the great northern railway line, railway stations, coalmines, power stations, hospitals, high schools, showgrounds, an airstrip at Cooranbong and forestry areas. I said that the police were certainly being stretched.

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The submission also pointed out the need for an upgrade of the Morisset police station. Last year the Government injected $500,000 from the budget to see that station upgraded. Toronto police station is also in need of an upgrade. I have asked the Minister to detail to the House any headway in that area. The recent Carr budget boosted many projects which are important to me and the residents of Westlakes. One is the long-awaited Toronto courthouse, something that the previous Labor Government, in 1988, committed itself to building, but the coalition Government did not follow through. To begin construction of the courthouse $706,000 has been allocated; it will be a $4.3 million project. I ask the Minister to please investigate the feasibility of upgrading the cells at Toronto police station so that police officers do not have to continue to travel to Newcastle for detainees to be held in cells there. Relieving them of that duty, that 1� hours round trip, will certainly allow extra policing to take place in the Westlakes area. I ask the Minister to respond to those concerns on Westlakes policing.

Mr WHELAN (Ashfield - Minister for Police) [6.38]: I thank the honourable member for Lake Macquarie for raising these important matters tonight. I will address his major issues in turn. In relation to Toronto police station I have great news for this hardworking member. The capital works customer service will mean better facilities for victims of crime and the community using the station. The upgrade at Toronto will mean access ramps for handicapped people, with new public toilets, new foyer, new waiting room and interview rooms with new street signs at a total cost of $245,000. The 1996-97 Budget allocates $200,000 towards that.

The Morisset police station project is almost complete and I am sure it will help deliver a better policing service to the Lake Macquarie community. I have asked the Commissioner of Police to report on this matter in relation to the cells at Toronto. I will forward a reply to the honourable member on that issue. In relation to staffing, I assure the honourable member that the Carr Government is committed to putting more police on the streets. For that reason the honourable member might recall that I have already announced a task force with a board comprising members of the Police Board, headed by the former Minister for Police, Peter Anderson - who is also a member of the Police Board - to investigate the number of officers who are still allocated to desk jobs in the Police Service.

The body that will be involved in accessing more police on the streets, putting police back on patrols, the Sub-Committee on Response Policing in Operations - SCORPIO - will obviously bear in mind the comments made by the honourable member. He can be assured that I am conscious of the need to ensure the safety of the people of his electorate. Lastly, I congratulate the honourable member for Lake Macquarie on his hard work. He received great news from the Minister for Health on the health budget and the House took the extraordinary step of congratulating him on his hard work in achieving so much funding for his electorate. Tonight I am pleased that I have been able to announce the good news about the Toronto and Morisset police stations.

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