Page 757 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 29 March 2006
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MR HARGREAVES: Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. We would not have been able to see more marked police cars out on the streets and more uniforms—
MR SPEAKER: I think you are being a bit sensitive, Mr Hargreaves.
MR HARGREAVES: Yes. I am also getting very—
Opposition members interjecting—
MR HARGREAVES: I am having a lot of trouble trying to answer a question put to me seriously by Mr Stefaniak, due to the noise coming from that side of the chamber.
Opposition members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order, everybody!
Mr Pratt: You can’t answer it; that’s why.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Pratt, last time. Mr Hargreaves has the call. Members of the opposition will cease interjecting. That does not mean that you have to stop breathing.
MR HARGREAVES: Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. I beg your indulgence to ask them to stop reading quite so loudly, because it is distracting, particularly when they breathe and talk as I am trying to answer the second part of Mr Stefaniak’s question, which is that ACT Policing has failed to be resourced by this government. I absolutely reject that.
With respect to the sensible question that he asked, which is about CCTV, members of this place would be only too well aware, because of announcements and pronouncements in this place, the Chief Minister considers the whole issue of CCTV, particularly in the city area, to be a particularly serious issue and has, in fact, commissioned a review of all of them. There are a thousand CCTV units around town. All of them have the potential to be used as an antisocial behaviour mechanism. We take this matter particularly seriously.
I have to say that, with respect to the policing question, this is a good example of how they have cherry picked a piece of a report. They have not indicated to the Assembly that the reason why the CCTV at the police station was down was that a power spike was not picked up. They have cherry picked it. Their cherry picking can be treated with the contempt that it is due.
MR STEFANIAK: What action have you taken to restore this important CCTV system? Can you reassure the community that their safety has not been compromised?
MR HARGREAVES: I fail to see how the community’s safety has been compromised by one particular CCTV unit being out of action because of a power spike. The answer to Mr Stefaniak’s standard question is that the power spike issue has been addressed and that camera is now functioning.
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