Debate resumed from 27 September 2007.

Ms JODI McKAY (Newcastle) [12.31 p.m.]: The area in which I live borders the Port Stephens electorate. I thank the member for Port Stephens for his history lesson and note the valuable contribution that the Port Stephens area makes to the amenity and prosperity of the Hunter region. I am well aware of the arson attack on the Mallabula Community Centre and its effect on the local community. The Government is taking steps to investigate the concerns of the community within the lower Hunter police command, which is why the Government opposes the motion moved by the member for Port Stephens. An examination of the broader Hunter area has commenced with the establishment of the Greater Hunter Workforce Planning Project, which will consult widely with local stakeholders, including local area commanders and police association branches.

That examination presents an opportunity to investigate the current and future policing needs, not only of the Port Stephens and Lower Hunter areas but also of the Greater Hunter policing area. It provides for a balanced assessment of community and policing needs now and into the future. The Greater Hunter Workforce Planning Project will use key analysis indicators of customer service, crime, the impact of technology, staffing and demographic composition. I commend their efforts and believe that this issue cannot be dealt with in isolation, as any modifications to policing in one command will have a domino effect throughout the region. The member for Port Stephens will know that the region integrates with all areas and there is an expectation of planning. We look at issues such as policing, health, roads and education on a regional basis, not just on a particular area basis.

I remind the House that the former Deputy Commissioner, Field Operations approved three additional police positions to be allocated to the Lake Macquarie local area command. The allocation of new detectives will provide extra support for the hardworking officers of the Lake Macquarie command. I remind the House also that the Iemma Government has committed to providing numerous resources for the region, including a mobile police station for Lake Macquarie and for Newcastle, the area I represent. I report that that mobile police station will arrive in the Newcastle local area command early in the new year. I know the command is looking forward to that.

The inner-city area of Newcastle has had problems with antisocial behaviour. A number of new initiatives have been put in place, one of which is the mobile police station that will arrive early in the new year. The Lower Hunter command will also be provided with a mobile police station. The Port Stephens area will have a new police station located on the site of the existing police station at Raymond Terrace. The Minister for Police, David Campbell, visited Raymond Terrace on 10 August 2007 and took pleasure in announcing that the new police station will be built on the current site. The member for Maitland, Frank Terenzini, and Jim Arneman, who both have been strong campaigners for the new police station, joined the Minister. This year $700,000 has been allocated to start the preliminary planning and scoping work for the new police station to be built at Raymond Terrace, which is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Mr Chris Hartcher: Three years to build a police station?

Ms JODI McKAY: I note the earlier comments by members opposite in that regard. The Iemma Government continues to place more police on the streets. I am pleased to announce that 225 students graduated from the constable education program on 28 August 2007. That number is in addition to the 799 police who graduated from the New South Wales Police College on 30 January 2007, which boosted the New South Wales Police Force authorised strength to a record 15,206. Those additional officers have strengthened the current commands and have supported new initiatives to reduce the incidence of violent crimes and community fears.

I am particularly aware that the Lower Hunter area command received 12 new probationary constables from the January graduating class, three officers in May and a further three officers in August. As at July 2007 the authorised strength of the Lower Hunter Local Area Command was 229, and the actual strength was 250. In opposing the motion moved by the member for Port Stephens I acknowledge his commitment to his local area. I acknowledge the valuable work of all police in the Hunter region. I remind the House of the current review underway into policing in the Hunter in general. I commend the Government for its commitment to the Hunter region through this initiative.

Mr PETER DEBNAM (Vaucluse) [12.38 p.m.]: It was interesting to listen to the contribution by the member for Newcastle, who is obviously well accustomed to reading things that other people write. If the member wants to walk into the Chamber and talk on an issue that touches a raw nerve in the community, such as policing and crime, I will give her one piece of advice: Do not read what the Government gives you! For years there has been a real problem in her area with crime, youth crime and antisocial behaviour. If she keeps reading in the House the rubbish that her so-called friends give her she will be out of here after one term.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! The member for Vaucluse has the call.

Mr PETER DEBNAM: The last people who stood up in the House and read the rubbish-type speech that she just gave were Neville Newell, the then member for Tweed, and John Bartlett, the then member for Port Stephens. They were the last ones who stood in this place as apologists.

Mr Frank Terenzini: Point of order—

[Interruption]

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! If the member for Maitland has a substantive point of order it will be welcomed and dealt with fairly.

Mr PETER DEBNAM: We had the decency to listen in silence to the rubbish that the member for Newcastle put on the record. Somebody in the Government wrote this rubbish and gave it to the member for Newcastle, a former newsreader, to read. I suggest to the member for Newcastle—

Mr Frank Terenzini: Point of order: The member for Port Stephens moved this motion and the member for Newcastle contributed to debate on the motion. We are still waiting for the member for Vaucluse to make a contribution to this debate.

Mr Chris Hartcher: What standing order are you referring to?

Mr Frank Terenzini: My point of order relates to relevance under Standing Order 76.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! The member for Maitland has the call. If he intends to take a point of order he should proceed with it, and I invite him to do so.

Mr Frank Terenzini: My point of order relates to relevance.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! In the circumstances I do not believe the remarks of the member for Vaucluse could be objectionable on the ground of relevance. However, I ask him to return to the leave of the motion.

Mr PETER DEBNAM: This motion refers to all the things that this Government has not done for 12 years. The member for Newcastle played right into the trap: she read onto the record rubbish that was written by her colleagues and by bureaucrats who should no longer serve the people of New South Wales. The member for Newcastle should get out and talk to people, which is exactly what the member for Port Stephens has done. That is why so-called Labor member Jim Arneman—who once again is trying to represent the people of New South Wales—said that anyone wanting anything done in that region should talk to the member for Port Stephens. That is what this motion is all about.

On 18 October an article in the Port Stephens Examiner reported Jim Arneman as stating that the Labor Party had failed and that anyone who wanted anything done about policing and police stations in that region should talk to the member for Port Stephens, which is why he is the local member. That is why John Bartlett is not the member for Port Stephens and it is also why Neville Newell is not the member for Tweed.

Mr Barry Collier: Point of order: The member for Vaucluse is misleading the House. He well knows that John Bartlett retired.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! There is no point of order. I ask the member for Vaucluse to address his comments through the Chair.

Mr PETER DEBNAM: Over the past four or five years I do not know how many times I have visited the Port Stephens electorate and surrounding electorates to talk about crime and antisocial behaviour. I visited Port Stephens on many occasions throughout 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and three or four times earlier this year during the election campaign. In August this year, when I again visited Port Stephens, the same issue came up—the fact that the Labor Party has failed the Hunter region in law and order, and policing. Labor members of Parliament, for example, the member for Monaro—the joker seated to the left of the member for Newcastle—are apologists for the worst government in Australia.

If the new member for Newcastle wants to research this issue she should go through the Hansard to establish the number of occasions on which members of the Coalition, including me, have spoken in debate about crime in Newcastle and about the fact that people in Newcastle do not have a voice through their Labor representatives. That is why Jim Arneman, a Labor candidate in the current Federal election, said, "Anyone wanting anything done should go to the member for Port Stephens." I congratulate the member for Port Stephens. His reputation as a fighter and as a local representative led to his election in March. Today he is taking up another issue of concern to people in the community and he will deliver for them. He will deliver despite the best attempts of apologists such as the member for Newcastle, who tries to pretend that the Labor Party has any interest in this issue whatsoever.

Mr FRANK TERENZINI (Maitland) [12.43 p.m.]: The Iemma Government continues to put more police on the streets. Since the Coalition was last in government the combined authorised strength of police officers in Lake Macquarie, Waratah, Newcastle and the Lower Hunter has increased from 581 to 728—an increase of 147 officers, or more than 25 per cent. Furthermore, the local area command that I share with the member for Port Stephens increased by more than 30 per cent—from 175 to 229. I am pleased to announce that on 28 August 2007 225 students graduated from the Constable Education Program.

Mr Chris Hartcher: Point of order: That statement has already been made.

Mr Steve Whan: Let him say what he wants to say.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! The member for Terrigal will proceed with his point of order.

Mr Chris Hartcher: My point of order relates to tedious repetition. The member for Newcastle has already made these statements. She delivered the same speech that was written for her by government bureaucrats. That same speech has been given to the member for Maitland and it refers to the same number of officers who graduated on 28 August. Under the standing orders it is tedious repetition. The member for Maitland should do some research. He should not go to the Minister's office, which is what the member for Newcastle did, and obtain a pre-written speech.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! I do not believe the circumstances are exactly as the member for Terrigal put them. However, I ask the member for Maitland to move on so that we can deal with all the issues and complete the debate.

Mr FRANK TERENZINI: I am aware of issues raised today in the local papers between the Police Association and the Lower Hunter Local Area Command. Clearly, some work must be done if both parties are to reach a deal in relation to a first response agreement. As the member for Maitland I will not make any irresponsible or inflammatory comments and I will not try to score political points at the expense of the community. This issue will be addressed through the normal processes. However, the dispute might escalate if it is not resolved. It is irresponsible for the member for Port Stephens to play on the fears of the community and manipulate the police because he is trying to help his mate get elected into Federal Parliament. That is what this is all about. The normal processes should be followed.

I remind the House of the work being done by police in the Hunter to address the current and future policing needs of the community. An examination of the broader Hunter area commenced in June this year with the establishment of the Greater Hunter workforce planning project, which will take its course. The group will consult widely with local stakeholders, including local area commanders and branches of the Police Association. The group will have an opportunity to investigate current and future policing needs not only in Port Stephens but also in the Lower Hunter area. What happens in one local area command can affect an adjacent command. I am advised that work is progressing and several meetings have already been held.

This is an important project for Maitland residents, who are seeing a rapid population growth in areas such as Thornton, Rutherford and Aberglasslyn. They will be interested to see the results of that review. In particular, the project will deal with previous demographic studies conducted by the region. It will take into account planning and infrastructure and the Lower Hunter regional strategy, which has just been released. It will also take into account unemployment trends, traffic management, local government boundaries and other relevant census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. I support the work that is being done. An overall review of policing in the Hunter Valley is the right way to go.

Opposition members can carp, whinge and whine all they like, but the commonsense way to go is to conduct a review of the use of our present resources. We have record police numbers in this State. I remind all members that the Iemma Government is committed to providing resources in the region, including mobile police stations—an issue referred to by my parliamentary colleague the member for Newcastle. I campaigned very hard for mobile police stations and the Minister is already honouring the State Government's promise. So far, $700,000 has been allocated to fund a brand new police station in Raymond Terrace which, along with mobile police stations, will make for an even stronger Police Force. I look forward to the establishment of that new mobile police station. We must ensure that our police are able to operate as efficiently as possible, given the population demands of the region. I commend the move by the Government to ensure that police get the best resources to provide the best service for the people of New South Wales. [Time expired.]

Mr CHRIS HARTCHER (Gosford) [12.48 p.m.]: If ever there were a cry to bring back Bryce Gaudry we heard it today—not just from branches of the Australian Labor Party but also from the Newcastle community. We just heard the ultimate classic speech from the member for Newcastle, who used every buzzword. She said that there would be an "examination", which was the first buzzword. She then said that the examination would "consult widely" and it would then investigate. She also said that there would be "key performance indicators" and it would "integrate". Every little buzzword was used, but there has been no action. All she did was read out the usual speech written for her by bureaucrats, and she referred to key words such as "integrate", "investigate", and "key performance indicators".

Mr Steve Whan: Point of order: I bring to your attention that the member opposite is casting aspersions on the member for Newcastle, which is out of order in this Chamber. And it is highly irrelevant to the debate. I ask that you bring him back to the debate.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! I do not think that the member for Monaro has established a point of order. I ask the member for Terrigal to proceed.

Mr CHRIS HARTCHER: In his debate he had a speech and she does not like it. She really reacts badly. Did you not? Did you not react? As soon as the member for Vaucluse got up to debate, you really reacted.

Mr Steve Whan: Point of order—

Mr CHRIS HARTCHER: You are a very brittle speaker. You are a very brittle new member because you have been caught out today.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! The member for Terrigal will be seated.

Mr Steve Whan: My point of order is that the member opposite has to refer to the member by her correct title and electorate. I ask that you stop him from badgering the member across the table, and pointing and carrying on with his usual loud and intimidating behaviour.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! The member for Terrigal will take note of the point of order.

Mr CHRIS HARTCHER: The member for Newcastle has been caught out today but let us move on. Let us look at the former member for Port Stephens. He had a lot to say in this House about the way the Labor Party was treating policing in his area. Just before he retired he made this speech about Raymond Terrace. He said:

There is a functioning police station at Raymond Terrace due to the professionalism of its officers, but it is a most dysfunctional building. The Carr Government has not promised any capital works funding for the station between 2003 and 2007.

That is what John Bartlett had to say about policing in Port Stephens and at Raymond Terrace. We heard today from the member for Newcastle, who read her pre-written speech by the bureaucrats, that Port Stephens will get a police station which will not be ready for another three years, and only $700,000 has been allocated for it. What a pathetic response. Even more significant is what Jim Arneman said today. He said that the Government had made a promise to set up a local area command. An article today in the Port Stephens Examiner—I am happy to table it—said:

FORMER ALP candidate Jim Arneman has confirmed a pledge by the NSW Government of a police command for Port Stephens was made on the eve of the March election.

Mr Steve Whan: Point of order: The previous Opposition speaker actually quoted this exact same article.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! I do not think that is a point of order, unless you can convince me otherwise.

Mr Steve Whan: I would suggest that it is, under Standing Order 59—tedious repetition.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! There is no point of order. The member for Terrigal may proceed.

Mr CHRIS HARTCHER: The article continued:

Mr Arneman, who is now campaigning for the Federal seat of Paterson, stated that he was aware that the former police Minister John Watkins promised a Local Area Command during a visit to Raymond Terrace earlier in the year.

The confirmation makes nonsense of the claim by the current police Minister, David Campbell, that no such commitment was ever made by the NSW Government.

"The commitment was made and I stand by that commitment," Mr Arneman said.

Mr Arneman conceded there was little he could do to hold the NSW Government to its promise.

The New South Wales Government has made promise after promise. The member for Newcastle told us that it was all a matter of history, but going back over the past 10 years this Government has made promise after promise to the people of Port Stephens and to the police of Raymond Terrace, but it has not honoured them. Jim Arneman delivered nothing; he admits now that he can deliver nothing. The only person who can deliver anything and who has maintained a campaign has been the newly elected member for Port Stephens. One reason John Bartlett was only too happy to get out of this place was that the New South Wales Government had pulled the rug out from under him. The New South Wales Government has failed the people of Port Stephens. I commend the motion.

Mr CRAIG BAUMANN (Port Stephens) [12.53 p.m.], in reply: I thank the member for Maitland and the member for Newcastle for their contributions to this debate, although I am not sure their constituents will. It should be pointed out that Newcastle is around 48 square kilometres and has two local area commands. I do not know where Waratah is in Newcastle, but one could walk very easily between the Newcastle Local Area Command and Waratah. The member for Newcastle mentioned the Raymond Terrace police station, which has been promised by the Government for the last three elections. I was not present at the announcement by the Minister for Police simply because I was not invited. This Government does not invite Opposition members to anything.

Ms Jodi McKay: You were there the other day for the announcement. Don't you dare go there, Craig!

Mr CRAIG BAUMANN: I was not invited.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! The member for Port Stephens has the call and he will proceed without interjections.

[Interruption]

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! I call the member for Newcastle to order.

Mr CRAIG BAUMANN: The member for Newcastle spoke about mobile police stations. In Port Stephens we call them police cars, and a few of those on the roads would be handy. I thank also the member for Vaucluse and the member for Terrigal for their contributions. Since 27 September, when I moved this motion, there has been no positive change in policing arrangements in the Port Stephens electorate. However, in the ensuing three weeks we have had some significant backward steps. The Minister for Police continues to deny that his Government ever committed to the establishment of a dedicated Port Stephens Local Area Command. Our local community newspapers continue to request comment on this turnaround from the Minister and his predecessor. Today saw a stunning revelation from the Federal Labor candidate for Paterson, Jim Arneman, who had earlier reiterated the Government's commitment on radio. Arneman has confirmed that the former Minister for Police, John Watkins, promised a local area command on a visit to Raymond Terrace during the election campaign, which was mentioned earlier in the debate.

Mr Barry Collier: What's the margin in Port Stephens? It is 68 votes. That's smaller than my margin.

Mr CRAIG BAUMANN: The commitment was made. The Government refused to live up to its commitment and the people of Port Stephens are very angry.

ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! The member for Port Stephens will continue uninterrupted.

Mr CRAIG BAUMANN: It is not the Minister for Police who has been banging on the door of an empty police station at midnight. It is not the Minister for Police who is left on hold trying to report a crime in progress. It is not the Minister fir Police whose community is under siege from arsonists, vandals and thieves. It is the people of Port Stephens who are suffering from this Government's ignorance and they were angry enough at the March poll to punish the Government for its neglect. It might have been 68 votes, but it was a 7.2 per cent swing.

When I asked a question of the Minister for Police about this matter, he referred the House to the charter of budget honesty. What a joke! An honest answer to a question that is crucial to the safety and security of the people of Port Stephens has not been forthcoming. We are waiting for work to begin on a promised Raymond Terrace police station. As I said earlier, it has been promised three times in the last three elections. We are still waiting on the final report of the supposed working party into policing requirements in the region. As I mentioned previously, Port Stephens is part of the Lower Hunter Local Area Command. The member for Maitland should know that after two hours two police cars patrol an 8,000 square kilometre region, not 48 square kilometres.

Arson is a major problem in Port Stephens. Community facilities frequently are victims of attacks by firebugs. On the first day of the bushfire season, the Labor Day long weekend, Port Stephens fell victim to arsonists again when bushfires raged out of control for several days, at one stage seven fires raged at the same time. At a dawn meeting with volunteer rural firefighters they told me of watching as these reprehensible crimes were being committed. One volunteer described seeing a suspected arsonist escape from a newly lit fire on a quad bike but he could not give pursuit in a fire truck. Police in this region are not a phone call away; they could be hours away. Police could be attending the scene of another crime 100 kilometres away.

As I travel throughout my electorate I am informed continually that local residents know the perpetrators, yet it seems the police are powerless to intervene. This morning I was informed that local area command police might consider industrial action over staff shortages. One official from the New South Wales Police Association says that 30 more officers are needed for the region. How many did the State Government commit to the region during the election campaign? Four. How many have been delivered since? One. How many police have left the local area command since February? Eight. The obligation is on the Government to provide for the protection and safety of the people they represent. The New South Wales State Government, through mismanagement and neglect, has failed rural and regional New South Wales in this responsibility. The people of Port Stephens are sick of being lied to and ignored. [Time expired.]

Question—That the motion be agreed to—put.

The House divided.

Question resolved in the negative.

Motion negatived.

[The Deputy-Speaker left the chair at 1.06 p.m. The House resumed at 2.15 p.m.]