Page 4074 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 22 October 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
I am pleased to have the opportunity, after all the nonsense in the newspaper and all the cries of alarm, finally to put sequentially on the record the legal situation as I see it and as I saw it in negotiating the agreement. There have been some quick, nasty little comments about the agreement, particularly one from Mr Moore, who continues to maintain an issue to do with the Grants Commission and levels of funding. In essence, they are all perfectly correct, but the contractual arrangement provided for a staged and orderly withdrawal of funds from the police. It was not staged and orderly. It was knee-jerk; it was sudden; it was wrong.
It breaches schedules A, B and E of the agreement. It breaches schedule A, because the police were supposed to be providing a police force responsive to community needs, and the evidence is there. The community is concerned, particularly residents of Tuggeranong. It breaches schedule B, because the cornerstone of policing was to be the patrol car, and that is clearly breached. It breaches schedule E, because there was a pre-emptive cut to the budget prior to going back to the Federal Government. I draw that to attention, and I trust that this Hansard will go to all the people who have been making a lot of theatrical comments all over the place on this issue.
The sheer fact of the matter is that there has been a breach of a contractual arrangement between two governments. It has been abrogated in significant respects, and what is required now, and I say this to the people of the Territory, is that we must negotiate an effective police agreement. This one has been abrogated. Schedules A, B and E have not been observed. Assistant Commissioner Dawson has clearly indicated that he cannot provide support to those indicia for the agreement, and the making of that agreement was premised on those issues.
In support of responsiveness and the cornerstone argument, the police were encouraged to use Frank Small and Associates to do that fantastic review into policing, little of which has ever been done in this country. That great survey, comprising 600 subjects and covering all three ACT police districts, is ongoing. It clearly indicates that there are concerns about neighbourhood crime, particularly housebreaking and the rest. Those perceptions about personal safety were found to be wrong statistically; but the perceptions were in people's minds, and that required community education.
The cut this Government made was upon the discretionary side of the police budget, and that went to the very essence of schedules A, B and E. It was wrong; it was pre-emptive. I do not think the Attorney even read the agreement. He had a perfect answer to his Treasurer.
Mr Connolly: I read them all.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .