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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (8 August) . . Page.. 2609 ..

MR QUINLAN: Absolutely. Mr Rugendyke, I know you have this high identification need, but let's not be blind to facts and figures. It is clear from the figures we have seen that there is a recorded reduction in crime. I heard some sources cast doubt over the extent of those figures, but it is also to be remembered that we are coming off an extremely high peak in some areas of crime.

I want to turn, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, to the breathtaking hypocrisy of the Chief Minister not long ago on this particular topic in berating members of this place for conducting a scare campaign. I seek leave to table copies of a couple of newspaper articles that date back to 1993 when the Liberal Party was last in opposition. The campaign included the headline in the Community Times "Terror stalks Civic after dark-Liberal, Kate Carnell", and another, "Cuts put women at greater risk of attack, says Carnell", in the Canberra Times in February 1993.

Leave granted.

MR QUINLAN: I present the following papers:

Police staff cuts-Risk to women in Civic-Copies of newspaper articles:

The Canberra Times, dated February 5, 1993, page 5.

Community Times, dated February 11, 1993, page 1.

Mr Stanhope: "Civic no-go area."

MR QUINLAN: Yes.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.

MR QUINLAN: I trust that they will be incorporated in Hansard, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. I wish to say little else other than to repeat that I do not believe there is any real reason to reduce our efforts in addressing crime in the ACT. As I said, we have come off quite a high peak in the past, so a reduction probably would be statistically inevitable. Let us hope we can keep going in that direction. That is where the proof will be-in whether we can keep that level of reduction going.

MR STANHOPE (Leader of the Opposition) (5.14): I only want to say a couple of things in this debate. I want to comment on some of the remarks of the Chief Minister as well about how under this government there have been increased resources every year and increased police numbers every year. Members who are genuinely interested in this debate and the nonsense that has been spouted by the government about their dedication to the police and to crime-fighting should get out the Productivity Commission's latest Report on Government Services and look at some of the statistics and some of the findings of the Productivity Commission, the independent umpire that we have in relation to police and police numbers.

We find, for instance, despite all the nonsense just spouted by the Chief Minister, that sworn police staff in the ACT in 1993-94 numbered 223. Sworn police staff in the ACT in 1996-97 numbered 208. The Libs took over and the numbers died, yet we have just

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