Ballina Police Station

Mr DONALD PAGE (Ballina) [7.32 p.m.]: I bring to the attention of the House and the Minister for Police the appalling situation at Ballina police station, where the charge room and cell complex have been rendered inoperable by structural deficiencies. An occupational health and safety risk assessment led to a direction from WorkCover that the charge room and cell complex at Ballina police station be closed. The closure of the facilities means that Ballina police officers are now required to transport offenders to Lismore for processing. The travelling time between Ballina and Lismore is approximately 35 minutes, which means that officers are required to spend at least one hour and 10 minutes travelling each time an offender is charged. The Police Association has advised that during a meeting with Treasury representatives Treasury indicated that funding for the rectification works required would not be forthcoming until the 2010-11 financial year.

It is simply not acceptable that this situation be allowed to continue for a further three years. With current police numbers seriously depleted, the additional time involved in travelling to Lismore to process offenders is further reducing the level of service Ballina police are able to provide to the community. The current situation also places the remaining on-duty officers in Ballina at risk while their fellow officers are in transit between Ballina and Lismore each time an offender is charged. Ballina shire has a population of over 40,000, and Ballina township's population is 16,300. A place this size should have its own charge room and cell complex that meets the necessary standards.

Police numbers in the Tweed-Byron, Richmond and Coffs-Clarence local area commands are already seriously depleted compared with those in the rest of the State. This area has one officer for every 700 persons, whereas the statewide ratio is one officer to under 500 persons. This equates to a 54 per cent shortfall, or over 300 officers below the statewide ratio for the region between Coffs Harbour and the Queensland border. Ballina falls under the Richmond Local Area Command, which currently has 213 officers, with 36 non-operational. The high rate of non-operational officers is adding to the deficiency in police numbers. In the Richmond Local Area Command, which encompasses Ballina, currently 36 officers, or 17 per cent, are non-operational.

The high rate of sick leave and restricted duties officers is in part due to insufficient police numbers, leading to undue pressure on serving officers. The closure of the charge room and cell complex at Ballina police station obviously adds, unnecessarily, to the excessive workload that the officers are doing their very best to deal with. They require support from the Government. I believe that finding the funds to rectify the structural deficiencies at Ballina police station is the very least the Government should do in return for the invaluable service and protection provided to the Ballina community by Ballina police officers.

A further major concern I have is that there has been, in recent times, an increase in the number of assaults and other violent crimes in the Ballina area. This is in addition to the significant problem with drug-related crime, youth crime, antisocial behaviour, violent confrontations and high rates of mental illness that already exist in the region. The increased load put on police resources, unnecessarily, through the neglect and lack of support for Ballina Police Station is putting Ballina residents and police officers at increased risk. If two officers are away from the area processing an offender in Lismore that means there are two fewer officers on deck at Ballina. This is a bad situation even if things are going smoothly; but if a major incident occurs the absence makes the situation critical.

North Coast police numbers have fallen so far in relation to the general population that a spiral of decreased effectiveness has begun. This is not obvious in reported crime figures, because many residents have given up reporting crime as they assume, with some justification, that the police response will be slow. The failure to report crime does not help build a case for more police. Recently the North Coast Nationals members for Tweed, Lismore, Clarence, Coffs Harbour and I met with Assistant Commissioner Lee Shearer to lobby her for more resources for the far North Coast of New South Wales. We pointed out a number of reasons why our region is different from others. In particular, we have a huge tourist inflow that adds to the police workload. I made a submission on the day, on behalf of my parliamentary colleagues, to Lee Shearer and subsequently followed that up with a written submission. We await with interest the assistant commissioner's response. She has asked each local area commander to develop their own business case for more resources.

In conclusion, it is untenable that the charge room at Ballina police station remains inoperable. Indeed, it should never have been allowed to deteriorate to this point. The current circumstances are not acceptable and are placing Ballina police officers and members of the Ballina community at unnecessary risk. I urge the Minister for Police and the Government to find the resources necessary to resolve this situation as a matter of urgency.