Page 2192 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 22 June 2005
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number of complaints about a particular matter, as an elected representative you become concerned; I certainly do. I treat things differently depending on the number of complaints I have, or what I perceive to be the gravity of those complaints.
There have been real concerns about police numbers and police responsiveness, and the outcomes that people find happen, even when they get to lodging complaints. I think everyone in Canberra, and elsewhere in this country, ought reasonably to be able to expect to live in a safe community. There needs to be confidence that our safety is guaranteed by a strong, responsive and readily accessible police force. It must be well trained and well resourced and employ preventative strategies, based on close and effective links with the community. I accept what the minister says about the importance of using crime intelligence in addressing issues. I am not privy to how they put everything together, but I am quite sure they do that with great enthusiasm and probably a deal of success that we do not hear about.
I understand the constraints that exist in some of those areas but I am troubled by the fact that many events do not seem to accord with the broader policing needs of our community. I am concerned that the numbers that we see appear to be falling. I did not hear the minister in his remarks—although I had to leave the Assembly for a few moments—say that what Mr Pratt said was wrong. If what he said was wrong, then incorrect evidence would have been provided to the estimates committee. I would quote from the estimates committee’s work because I think it is important to realise—and I was at the hearing—that there is no doubt at all that sworn police numbers have fallen by 14 since the Liberal government last governed in this territory, back in 2001.
I do not believe all the statistics in the world can make up for the fact that, if you have falling police numbers in a growing city—albeit at a slowing rate—you are likely to be getting on top of crime purely through intelligence gathering. I am troubled to see that the figures that emerged after a deal of questioning—and it was not easy to elicit this information—have not in themselves been challenged as being inaccurate. The committee was told that the number of sworn officers was only 583.
I would remind members to have a look at page 46 of the dissenting report as part of the estimates process, which we will discuss next week. If the minister feels that he made an error of fact when he gave that evidence, or when his official did, then we ought to be told. Given that that does not seem to be a matter in dispute, we have found a new line of defence—that, “We spend more per head.” I have not heard that one used in recent debate on this issue, and I will be happy to look at those figures. I am always wary when people talk about so many dollars per head increase, or so much more per head.
We were told by Mr Quinlan—he trotted out this figure—that, “We spend more per head on tourism than anyone, other than Tasmania and the Northern Territory.” You are meant to think from that that we have this robust tourism campaign which is delivering marvellous results. In fact, if you look at the way it is going—and that area of marketing in the administration of this territory has been less than impressive as a performer—it is an area that needs a lot more resourcing and a lot more focus. We have seen in the health area how much we are spending per head and there are nationally recognised figures that—
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