Mr PETER DRAPER (Tamworth) [2.05 p.m.]: Last Friday night I was delighted to attend the Australian Tidy Towns Awards presentation in Canberra. I was even more thrilled when Tamworth was named as the nation's tidiest town. I take this opportunity to congratulate our local Tidy Towns Chairman, Paul Ying, his committee, council workers, organisations and many individuals whose pride in the region enables us to tell other Australians that the Tamworth area is a great place in which to live, work and raise a family.

Tidy Towns focuses attention on community appearance and spirit. As I was flying back from Canberra I thought it would be great if we could develop a safest communities program to encourage respect and responsibility and to get us all working together towards safer community environments. I was also thinking about the results of a crime law and order survey that I recently distributed across my electorate. To date I have received almost 7,000 responses, which is phenomenal. The responses detail many community concerns and give valuable insight into residents' thoughts on this important issue.

The Minister for Police recently visited Tamworth and Gunnedah to hear the views of officers and local residents about current police services. The Minister heard strong concerns about the number of police who are available for duty as opposed to authorised strength numbers. Put simply, these long-term absences are hurting the ability of the New South Wales Police Force to provide the protection that the community needs and deserves. Although these shortages are statewide, Gunnedah faces some major challenges. I presented the Minister with 846 completed questionnaires from Gunnedah locals. Seventy per cent of people think that crime levels are unacceptable, while 74 per cent believe that incidents of crime are increasing. Of real concern to me is the fact that nearly 30 per cent said they do not feel safe in their own homes.

Eighty-three per cent of respondents identified certain areas of Gunnedah as "no go zones". Understandably, most respondents are happy with the local police but nearly all of them noted that police were understaffed and under pressure. Misbehaviour by teenagers, drunkenness, vandalism, burglary, theft, assault, domestic disputes, street racing and speeding were the main factors. Opinions about the causes of crime included alcohol and drug abuse, family breakdown, unemployment, violence and racial issues. Many respondents said that there was a need for more social programs to address these areas, in particular, to target young people at risk. The other day Father Chris Riley, founder and chief executive officer of Youth Off The Streets, said on radio:

There's just no hope in their eyes and so when there's no hope and you're looking in the mirror each morning and saying 'I can't contribute anything, I'm going nowhere', so they then start using drugs and alcohol so they're probably already doing significant crime if they're into the drugs and alcohol because they certainly wouldn't get the money to buy that sort of stuff.

Ninety-three per cent of Gunnedah respondents want to empower teachers to restore discipline at schools, but most of them added that teachers should not have to be substitute parents, and that parental responsibility was where the improvements should start. An astounding 96 per cent of respondents believe that the judiciary is out of touch with community expectations by handing down inappropriate sentences, especially to repeat juvenile offenders. I will be referring that matter to the Attorney General.

People want to see more police foot patrols, especially late on Friday and Saturday nights, more visible police cars on patrol, and increased prevention strategies, starting in our schools. Last but not least, 70 per cent of respondents amongst the farming community said that there had been an increase in rural crime and stock theft, and most thought that the current stock squad was ineffective. The report of the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research entitled "New South Wales Recorded Crime Statistics 2008", examines reported crime incidents from January 2007 to December 2008 and provides a powerful argument to increase police numbers in Gunnedah and right across the Oxley command.

However, I am greatly troubled about the fact that of all those who were victims of crime nearly 45 per cent did not report the incident to police. Police numbers are determined on statistical evidence and in Gunnedah at least almost half the incidents have gone unreported. In 2007-08 Gunnedah experienced spikes in break and enter of dwellings and motor vehicle theft, but across New South Wales the figures in both those categories fell. Whilst New South Wales experienced a statewide fall of 5.9 per cent and Tamworth a 20.1 per cent fall in reported break and enter of dwellings, Gunnedah saw a rise of 54.7 per cent in this category. From 86 incidents in 2007 there were 133 break and enter offences in 2008.

Both Tamworth and Gunnedah saw increases in motor vehicle theft that again defied a statewide decrease of 8.9 per cent. In Gunnedah there was an increase of 80 per cent, while the figure for Tamworth was up 82.3 per cent. Gunnedah went from 20 incidents in 2007 to 36 in 2008, while in Tamworth that figure rose from 96 to 175. The Government must urgently address the anomaly between actual police officers and available police officers to undertake this work. However, that is only a first step. Addressing the social issues that lead to many of these problems is a matter of equal importance. Perhaps the idea of a safest communities program should be examined as part of that process. We must encourage everyone to play a role in maintaining and promoting a safe community and to engage in this process.

Question—That private members' statements be noted—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Private members' statements noted.

[The Assistant-Speaker (Ms Alison Megarrity) left the chair at 2.10 p.m. The House resumed at 2.15 p.m.]