Mr MILLS - 2008-05-06
In 2002-03, police spent $141m. This year, you have announced that it will be $247m. That is an increase of 75%. In the 2002-03 Police Annual Report, it was reported that 79% of people surveyed felt safe at home after dark. However, in the 2006-07 annual report, that figure had fallen to 78% despite an improvement in the national figures over the same period. Do you see it as a policy failure, after spending all those millions upon millions of dollars, that people feel less safe in the Territory now than they did five years ago?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome this question from the Leader of the Opposition. I will tell you what the policy failure was: it was a freeze on police recruitment under the CLP government. It was years of no recruitment to the police force that this government inherited, where we saw a real concern for community safety. We had a deficit at the sergeant level of police, which we have been addressing in a fantastic recruitment campaign that the police have pursued both interstate and locally. We have had graduate squad after graduate squad to build up our police numbers from a deficit.
I welcome the fact that Budget 2008-09 delivers 60 more police to address the community safety concerns to make our suburbs safer ...
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I fear the point has been missed. The issue is: why do people feel less safe today than they did five years ago? That is the point of the question.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition can quibble about his 1% hidden away in the statistics. He is all excited about his 1% - the 79% down to 78%.
Mr Mills: These are people!
Ms LAWRIE: He can get excited about those statistics. The reality is, what Territory families want to see is more police on our streets ...
Mr Mills: They want to feel safe at home.
Ms LAWRIE: He is a bit excited today, Madam Speaker.
Mrs Miller: No, it is called totally frustrated with your answers. You stand there smirking like a theatrical queen.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer has the call.
Ms LAWRIE: What Territory families want to see is more police on their streets. That is what Budget 2008-09 delivers: 60 new police funded for our streets. I know the police have their graduate squads working hard to deliver those numbers for the government with the extra resources we put in.
However, we are not just doing it in our towns; we are also increasing policing in our remote areas and communities. It is critically important to do both. This government is very proud of the significant additional resources we are putting into our police, because that is what the community would like to see: more police on the streets. We are delivering 60 more police in this budget.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome this question from the Leader of the Opposition. I will tell you what the policy failure was: it was a freeze on police recruitment under the CLP government. It was years of no recruitment to the police force that this government inherited, where we saw a real concern for community safety. We had a deficit at the sergeant level of police, which we have been addressing in a fantastic recruitment campaign that the police have pursued both interstate and locally. We have had graduate squad after graduate squad to build up our police numbers from a deficit.
I welcome the fact that Budget 2008-09 delivers 60 more police to address the community safety concerns to make our suburbs safer ...
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I fear the point has been missed. The issue is: why do people feel less safe today than they did five years ago? That is the point of the question.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition can quibble about his 1% hidden away in the statistics. He is all excited about his 1% - the 79% down to 78%.
Mr Mills: These are people!
Ms LAWRIE: He can get excited about those statistics. The reality is, what Territory families want to see is more police on our streets ...
Mr Mills: They want to feel safe at home.
Ms LAWRIE: He is a bit excited today, Madam Speaker.
Mrs Miller: No, it is called totally frustrated with your answers. You stand there smirking like a theatrical queen.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer has the call.
Ms LAWRIE: What Territory families want to see is more police on their streets. That is what Budget 2008-09 delivers: 60 new police funded for our streets. I know the police have their graduate squads working hard to deliver those numbers for the government with the extra resources we put in.
However, we are not just doing it in our towns; we are also increasing policing in our remote areas and communities. It is critically important to do both. This government is very proud of the significant additional resources we are putting into our police, because that is what the community would like to see: more police on the streets. We are delivering 60 more police in this budget.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016