Page 471 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 8 March 2006
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have to go to a police station tomorrow to report that.” That is the response they got, and that is why they approach us and tell us what is going on.
They went the next day to the police station, at 11 o’clock, and were told that the police were busy and somebody would come to their home. That is a pretty reasonable service. “Wait approximately an hour and somebody will come to your home.” The woman told the police officer she wanted to take her son to a doctor to get his face checked out. She waited till 4 o’clock, when she was rung again and told, “We have been busy; we will get there shortly.” That Sunday, I know, was particularly busy. I am sure it happens. They waited till 8 o’clock that night. They then went to the doctor; they went down to the police station where they were assisted by Constable Paul Brown and Constable Hawk who were absolutely excellent, who took their statements.
Mr Stanhope: You are not going to bash them; you are just going to bash everyone else. You only bash the nameless police, do you?
MR SMYTH: No, we discern. This is your scattergun approach. We can discern between good service and bad service. We can discern this; you cannot. You sit there all puffed up, with your mock indignation and your attack on everybody.
The problem is that people are not getting the response that they deserve, that they want, that they need and that they deserve, because your policies are stopping it. That is what we attack constantly. I know that Mr Hargreaves likes to twist it and turn it. I know that he likes to say that we are bashing cops, but we are not. We are supporting the police in trying to do their job and, at the same time, supporting the constituents.
The case of the young man who was beaten at the Canberra show is particularly personal to me because he is my nephew. I have seen the bruises on his face and I have seen his broken lip.
Mr Stanhope: So we use question time now for family matters!
MR SMYTH: No, I am not using question time for family matters at all. It does not matter whether it is my family; it should not matter where it is your family, Jon Stanhope: if somebody gets beaten up at the Canberra show, surely you should be concerned. What sort of Chief Minister are you that you now denigrate it simply because the constituent was related to one of us? There you go, 17 members, do not report something that goes wrong or that in some way affects your family, because you are not allowed to under Mr Stanhope’s rule; it is denigrated.
That young man is entitled to the protection that our police service, our laws and our city should offer him. He should get the response that he deserves, whether or not he is related to me or to you, Chief Minister. I did the right thing. I reported this to the police; I was so angry about this that I reported it to the police.
The problem for the lady in Campbell is that 10 days later she has not given her evidence to the police. Any opportunity to collect evidence, I would suspect, has disappeared. A number of the kids from that party who are quite scared of the gang that lives in this area—and they call it a gang; they are not our words; these are the words of the constituents—went to the police station last week to report the incident. They got the
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