Page 1908 - Week 06 - Thursday, 5 May 2005
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The ACT Government should take urgent steps to upgrade the Emergency Services Bureau’s operational command and control facilities—either by carrying out a major refurbishment of the existing facility at Curtin or, preferably, by locating to a more suitable alternative site, where a more functional, longer term operations centre can be developed.
Even as recently as 31 January of this year, in a media release responding to comments made by the opposition, Jon Stanhope said:
That is why we commissioned the McLeod Inquiry and implemented its 61 recommendations.
I suspect that since the January 2003 bushfire disaster is now becoming a distant memory in the mind of the Chief Minister, the government does not see why they should fund one of McLeod’s most crucial recommendations.
To add insult to injury, in addition to the lack of funding for an ESA headquarters, the joint emergency services centre at Belconnen and West Belconnen, which were previously funded in the 2004-05 budget to the tune of $1.4 million and $8.5 million, respectively, have now had their funding reversed. This is shameful. Clearly emergency services and the safety of the community are no longer a priority for this government.
Let us look at police. The minister has announced that there will be 40 extra police funded over five years. $1.1 million has been allocated for 10 sworn officers, who will not come on line until 2007. The other 10 will not come on line until 2008. This is clearly grossly inadequate. It is an insult to the community and the police force themselves, who are feeling the strain of a lack of resources. Our police force is overstretched. It is tired. They are called upon too often to undertake overtime to meet the community’s safety needs, and they cannot do it.
The purchase agreement between the ACT government and the AFP was made in order to provide an ACT policing service to our community. The agreement provides for a minimum number of officers to meet the needs of the community and deliver appropriate levels of policing. We cannot see that here. There needs to be a greater degree of certainty and consistency within this agreement. While we are grateful that the delivery of service also involves utilisation of AFP national resources from time to time, this should only be an add-on. The fundamental community policing function must be constant. While we support police rotation, a consistently on-the-ground force must be guaranteed at all times. It is not stated in the current agreement that there can be a police force of, say, 600 officers one day and perhaps 550 policemen the very next day.
Yesterday the minister referred to a full-time equivalent, an FTE, factor as a planning mechanism. That is rubbish! The minister has got to guarantee that consistently on-the-ground police force to protect our community. We do not see that strategy. We do not see sufficient resources being put aside in the budget to increase the police force to the national average benchmark that the community deserves. We do not have that.
Yesterday, in response to my questions about police numbers and 40 extra police, Mr Hargreaves said that he would teach us a lesson about accounting, about numbers. Apart from his pathetic, pull-it-out-of-his-backside statement that police numbers do not
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