Page 3413 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 25 November 1992
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welfare lobby is very valuable and his views are treated generally with the utmost respect by government. But on this occasion, as I said at the time, he went overboard. That poem was offensive and unacceptable. At the time, I spoke with the widow of the senior police officer concerned and expressed my and the Government's concern for the distress the poem must have caused her.
The Government supports Mr Humphries's motion. In concurring with his views about the way the police are generally held in the community, it is a matter of considerable pride to this Assembly that the community surveying that is regularly done shows that the AFP is held consistently in very high esteem by about 90 per cent of the Canberra population. That is a public approval rating for which any other police force in this country would give its right arm. Police forces in a number of jurisdictions in recent years have been shown to have had corrupt elements in them; they have been shown to have been engaged in unacceptable conduct. The AFP has not been in that position, and that is a matter of considerable pride for every resident of Canberra.
MR MOORE (11.03): Madam Speaker, in rising to support this motion I think it is important to note some concerns I have. I emphasise that I am supporting the motion and that I also have the same concern about the publication of an entirely inappropriate poem. Members of the Assembly have already expressed their distaste for that poem. However, at the same time it is very important for us to realise that it must be a very frustrating experience for people who are on the receiving end of police violence particularly to express what is happening, and at Deakin recently I noticed a couple of walls painted in disgust at police violence.
I have a great deal of respect for the Federal Police. I am sure that many people in Western Australia would have said recently that they had a great deal of respect for the Western Australian police. Yet only yesterday a police sergeant was dismissed for violence - an appropriate action for that police force to take - and I imagine that that sends a message to all police forces. Where there are constant reports of violence, it is important for us to be conscious of it, to be aware of it and to assess it. That is not to take away from that part of the motion that says that the Assembly affirms its confidence in the very high standards set by officers of the Australian Federal Police. In all these situations - in the Western Australian situation in relation to violence - it is most likely that we are talking about one officer who has let the side down, and perhaps that can happen.
At no stage am I making the general comment that I think it is a practice, or whatever, in the Australian Federal Police. I also support this motion to affirm my confidence in the police generally. Nevertheless, I think we have to be aware, because it is part of our role, that such things go on occasionally. We have to be aware of the incredible frustration people feel when they are on the receiving end of such actions. To that extent, I would like to congratulate the Attorney-General, as Minister for police, for moving to install video cameras in police lock-ups throughout Canberra. I think that will serve two purposes: Firstly, to make people who are arrested feel more comfortable; and, secondly and in many ways much more importantly, so that the police not only are acting above board but are seen to be acting above board - - -
Mr Connolly: And the police are very comfortable about it.
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