Shoalhaven Police Resources

About this Item
Speakers - Hatton Mr John; Phillips Mr Ronald
Business - Grievance Debate

SHOALHAVEN POLICE RESOURCES

Mr HATTON (South Coast) [11.55]: I raise matters related to police facilities and the police manning levels at Shoalhaven. The first matter is the provision of a police boat for the area. The requirement for such a vessel has been firmly established for some years. There was an old boat in the area which was unseaworthy and unsafe in open waters and in bad weather conditions. During the last election campaign a commitment was given that the boat would be replaced with a suitable vessel. A tender was let. One of the complaints I received was that the successful tenderer was a Queensland firm and not a local manufacturer who could have provided a vessel of similar specifications that would have done the job quite well. The Police Association is concerned that the boat for which the tender was let will not be supplied. The electorate was misled about the indebtedness of the State and the extent of the financial problems. I hope that the reductions in expenditure by the Government in its attempt to address its financial difficulties will not affect that firm undertaking and it will not be cast aside. During holiday times it is essential to have a police vessel in the Shoalhaven region. It is a wild wind area that has problems with northerly winds and sudden southerly busters. The region has hundreds of kilometres of waterways, estuaries, lakes and bays. Fortunately the Navy has been able to help out on a number of occasions and assisted with rescue services. It cannot be expected to do all the work that should be performed by a police vessel. The position is serious because police do not have a boat and they have to call for assistance from the Maritime Services Board or the Fisheries Department. They should be able to carry out proper patrols.

The legislation to control drink driving of vessels will come before the Parliament in the near future. That will emphasise the need for more police resources, personnel and equipment. Officers of the Maritime Services Board and the Fisheries Department are overworked and their resources stretched to the limit. They should not have to make up for the inadequacies of the Government allocation. Police manning levels in Shoalhaven are of extreme concern. The area has more than 80 kilometres of coastline. At least 35 villages are scattered throughout the Shoalhaven region. That makes the policing of the area strategically difficult. The population of the small villages is increasing. In holiday times houses that are normally vacant are fully occupied, as are the camping areas. Manning levels have been increased during holiday periods, and I am grateful for that. In the off-peak period many properties are unattended because owners of those properties live outside the electorate. There is a steep increase in crime, particularly in rapidly growing areas such as Culburra, St Georges Basin and Vincentia. These problems must be addressed. I am not renowned for massaging egos but I should heap praise on the local police. They have done and are doing an excellent job. They have taken community policing to heart. These police, particularly those who have to service outlying areas from Nowra, work closely with the community and with rare exception work diligently. I refer especially to the officers who operate from Huskisson police station and service the rapidly growing Huskisson-Vincentia-St Georges Basin region which has a staggering population growth rate of 11 per cent compounding, with several hundred residences being built every year despite the fact that we are in the middle of a recession.

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The community has reacted positively to the police because of the way the police are operating, running blue light discos and getting involved with youth organisations, the Bay Basin Resources Committee, the St Georges Basin and Districts Precinct Committee and various community organisations such as chambers of commerce and ratepayers associations. Police need assistance urgently. Earlier this year I spoke with Assistant Commissioner Gibson, chief superintendents Cassidy and Eric Rosa from the establishment control branch and Mr David Gill, who was working on the allocation of police personnel. I pointed out that I thought some savings could be made, that some reallocation to the Shoalhaven could occur and that there was an urgent need for more police in those rapidly growing areas. It is all very well to say that the police are doing a good job, to flog a willing horse. It appears to me that people in the police force are not recognised for doing a good job because it is difficult to get more police personnel and equipment to help do that job.

The Police Association and police themselves quite properly complain about the lack of resources in the Shoalhaven area. This needs to be addressed. One way for this to be addressed urgently is through the appointment of a public service communications officer. There is a freeze on new positions and even on replacement positions in some public service areas. However, people are being offered redundancies. One such person could be offered a job in the Shoalhaven. It would save police time and would be a great boost for efficiency in dealing with telephones, faxes, typing and radio networks. It would free police from the desk and put them where they are trained to be - in the field doing the job. The appointment of a public service communications officer is urgent and is a low cost solution to some of the problems of police manning levels.

The last thing I mention is the review by the Chief Magistrate of the structuring of court circuits. For a short time police had to go from Milton to Batemans Bay together with witnesses and defendants. There was no public transport and that journey was done at great cost and time loss. It has been shown throughout the world - not only in Australia - that one of the major costs of the Westminster system of justice is the loss of police time through their waiting outside court houses for innumerable hours and having to travel to court cases. I make a plea that in the review the Milton and the Nowra court circuit be structured to make the best use of police resources so that witnesses, defendants and members of the legal profession are not put to extra cost and inconvenience.

Mr PHILLIPS (Miranda), Minister for Health Services Management [12.5]: I appreciate the issues raised by the honourable member for South Coast about policing matters in his area. I am pleased that he honestly recognises that every government in Australia has a budgetary problem. We are in the worst recession for 60 years. Twelve months ago nobody predicted this and Australia then was driven into a much deeper recession by the policies of the Federal Government and Federal Treasury. They are still trying to find answers and a way to drag Australia out of that recession. Things are still not looking bright for the near and medium-term future. For the short time that the Greiner Government has been in office it can stand proud on its record in policing. There are well over 1,000 additional police in the force; there have been reductions in crime rates in all sorts of areas and in accident and death rates on the roads; and there has been a significant impact on organised crime and a great impact on institutional crime through the Independent Commission Against Corruption. In the areas of justice, law and order and policing we have done a lot, but there is always a lot more to do and things that can be done better. One of the challenges of being in government is finding better ways to do things. I appreciate the issues raised by the honourable member for South Coast on behalf of his constituents and their efforts to try to find better ways of local
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policing, in conjunction with the community and the police force. I will take the issues he has raised to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services so that he can look into the matter for him.

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