Page 244 - Week 01 - Thursday, 18 February 1993
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with cutbacks and closure. Last but not least, Mr Connolly mentioned Kenny Koala. He is being cut back as well. We are told that that is also a political beat-up. Mr Connolly should realise at this time that Kenny Koala is not standing against Mrs Kelly; Mr Stefaniak is.
The report, Mr Deputy Speaker, is a slap in the face for the Labor Party. They have failed in their duty to protect the citizens of Canberra. There is no doubt about that. In contrast, Mr Deputy Speaker, the Liberals do have a positive policy on crime and policing, and we have made positive advances in the past. We introduced move-on powers and we introduced dry area laws. We are attempting to toughen the Bail Bill by allowing bail only in exceptional circumstances to those who have been charged with further offences while out on bail. We are committed to tackling the underlying causes of crime by tackling unemployment. We are committed to producing real and lasting jobs through lifting the tax burden on businesses and allowing business to expand and grow, generating increased employment.
Labor's recession has almost certainly helped to contribute to a high crime rate. There is no doubt about that. If you see any graph you will see that the crime rate goes up with the level of unemployment, and we all know who was responsible for the unemployment level in this country. It was the Federal Labor Government under the Grim Reaper, Mr Keating; not us, but Mr Keating. My colleague Mrs Carnell will comment further on the effect that crime has on women. There is no doubt that it does have an effect on them. Mr Deputy Speaker, Labor's policy on crime rates stands in stark contrast. They opposed move-on powers; they opposed dry area legislation; they have done nothing to step up the fight against armed robbery. They dragged their feet on the opening of the psychiatric wing at the Belconnen Remand Centre. They stripped $1.2m from the police budget in 1991-92 and are stripping a further $1m from the police budget this year.
Finally, Mr Deputy Speaker, let us examine whether this Government, which now makes a virtue of cutting back the police, really has a mandate to undertake this. At the last election the Chief Minister promised more police on the streets. That promise obviously has not been honoured. People expected more police and better resources from this Government because that is what they were promised. Precisely the opposite is happening. The people of Canberra have been taken in, hook, line and sinker. Mr Deputy Speaker, I also suggest that with all this increase, especially in the areas of theft, burglary, fraud and car theft, the whole of the community suffers.
Ms Follett: Not to mention furphies.
MR DE DOMENICO: No, they are not furphies. They are your own figures, Ms Follett. If you do not want to stand up to those figures, be that on your head. The fact is that everybody in the community pays for any increase in the crime rate. I have been told today of the increase in insurance industry claims for burglary, theft and the like. That means possible future increases in premiums. So it is the whole of the community that pays. Why is the whole of the community paying? Because this Government, for a start, will not even concede that there is a problem. The figures that we were given by Mr Connolly yesterday in this report show that there is a problem. We say that there is a problem, and it is about time that this Government did something about it.
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