Page 947 - Week 03 - Thursday, 14 March 1991
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MR CONNOLLY (3.29): Mr Speaker, although this morning the Opposition was able to agree with the Attorney-General and commend him and congratulate him on the Weapons Bill, this afternoon we must differ. The issue of policing, along with health and education, is one of the basic functions of government and one of the most significant financial imposts upon the citizens of the Australian Capital Territory. It was only in July of last year that the first agreement was signed for the agency arrangement between the ACT and the Commonwealth to allow the Australian Federal Police to continue to provide policing services for this Territory at an estimated cost of some $54m. For this financial year that cost has, of course, been fully met by the Commonwealth.
The question of the appropriate level of policing services for the ACT and the associated cost to the taxpayers of the ACT is one of the most vital questions before this Assembly, and it is a matter that needs to be looked into very carefully. It is not appropriate to simply have a consultant company conduct a public opinion survey and to establish a community consultative committee to advise on this. This Assembly must look into this matter. We have an internal departmental steering committee and we have a community committee, but the vital missing link is an Assembly committee to look into the question of policing. This has been referred to earlier by both Mr Moore and me. It is vital that an Assembly committee, with the power to summon witnesses and documents and with the power and privilege to receive evidence under the protection of privilege, be established. The people of this Territory must have a full and open investigation into the type of policing that they are getting and the cost of that policing. This is simply inadequate and the citizens of this Territory cannot be reassured by an internal steering committee, a community committee - with no powers to summon witnesses and documents and no privilege for evidence given before it - and a series of public opinion surveys to be conducted by a private consultant. It is absolutely vital that this assembly take this matter in hand.
The general financial arrangements for this Territory were simply handed to us by the Commonwealth; we had no say over them. We have an opportunity to have some say over the financial commitment we will assume for policing, but the Government is refusing to allow the Assembly to look into it. It is simply an inadequate response and the Assembly must demand a full inquiry into this matter by way of an Assembly committee to allow the people of the Territory full information as to the type of police force that they will, in the long term, be paying for.
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