Page 4031 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 24 October 1990
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staffing and resourcing law enforcement?". There are some very wide, fundamental issues to resolve on a policy basis, hopefully on a bipartisan level, before we know precisely the case to put to the Grants Commission, and other areas.
I would welcome a dialogue with the Opposition, but each time I reveal details, or operational matters, I am sure we will see, certainly, Mr Moore in his usual style - as we saw him leave the chamber last night - make some opportunistic point and say, "Quick. I will dash upstairs and I will do a press release". Government does not work when you have an independent like that in this chamber. We know that that is a spoiling problem at the moment in government. Mr Moore is a problem. I might add that the Weetangera parents know that, certainly, if Mr Moore had remained true to the community we would have had his vote on issues.
Certainly, the AFP are improving community access to police services. They are establishing shopfronts. We are moving into a community policing mode. I addressed a national conference yesterday about this great experiment we are moving into in the Territory. An experiment it is. It is well on the way. It is well supported by the standing independent consultant review that has been commissioned by the ACT to look at the social research aspects of community policing. The first quarterly report from Frank Small and Associates - it is merely an instinct - is available to the Opposition if they wish. I made comments on that yesterday. One thing that is not done around the world is that community policing is not evaluated.
We are the first police force in Australia to have an ongoing independent evaluation of police performance. There is a, perhaps, intrusive questionnaire that asks what the community has to say about police; even whether they are polite. It goes down to that. It goes into very detailed issues of neighbourhood policing and the rest. We are doing that. We are developing something different here. To have a political point-scoring exercise in the middle of it, and to have to play our hand to the Grants Commission, is not appropriate.
I am not going to say we are going to support this in March, but, certainly, we would not see at this stage any reason why we could not establish a select committee, after we have the Grants Commission's findings, to work through them. The ACT police are, as Mr Connolly said, not to be judged on an across-the-board statistical exercise. One issue that is quite evident in the Territory is that the level of crime reportage is very high. Even Mr Berry reports his milk money when it has been stolen. That is a statistic. I do not know whether he drinks milk, but I wish he would. The milk of human kindness would flow, Mr Speaker, and certainly they are - - -
Mrs Grassby: On a point of order - - -
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