Page 1719 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 21 August 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR SESELJA: Minister, in May 2007 you agreed that there were serious problems with security at bus interchanges and you stated that you would be moving with urgency to address this, with significant improvements promised by July 2007. Today there are still very few, if any, new CCTV passenger security cameras at all interchanges and there are not sufficient new transport officers added to the evening shifts at all interchanges to improve evening security for staff. Minister, why have you failed in your promise to make significant improvements by July 2007?
MR HARGREAVES: In part, in response to Mr Seselja’s question, $445,000 has been provided in the 2007-08 budget to complete the fitting of closed-circuit televisions on all ACTION buses. The matter of closed-circuit televisions is part of the purview of my colleague Mr Corbell and I congratulate him on the things that he has been doing. But I will just go back. We know that CCTV will help to deter violent and criminal activity, provide evidence for the police when incidents occur, and provide ACTION with footage of accidents the front of ACTION buses.
Only today I received an email—I responded to Mrs Dunne’s email to me today about a constituent’s representations—about a very ugly incident on a bus. I will need to see whether the camera images are sufficient to mount a prosecution. We will be talking to the police to see what action has occurred as a result of that. I did not know at the time I responded to you but I will be taking the matter very seriously.
Mr Pratt: How many cameras did you put in interchanges by July, John?
MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, I am attempting to respond to Mr Seselja. The 54 new Scania buses acquired between 2001 and 2006 are currently fitted with digital CCTV systems. Prior to that, under the original CCTV contract, some 33 buses were fitted with analogue tape CCTV recorders, but they have proven unreliable and need to be replaced. The average cost of the installation is around $5,500 a bus. When we have finished rolling out this program, 342 buses will be equipped with CCTV digital video recorders.
Mr Smyth: Point of order. Under standing order 118A the answer must be concise and confined to the subject matter. The subject was security at interchanges, not CCTV on buses. The minister is avoiding the question. He might stop mumbling so that you can hear him more clearly as well.
MR SPEAKER: Order! There seems to have been a bit of a drift to the right down there—
Mr Seselja: There is nothing wrong with that, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: away from the microphones. It probably needs correction. It might be helpful for members to position themselves as close as they can to the microphones so that people can hear.
MR HARGREAVES: Okay, Mr Speaker. The buses equipped with the CCTV cameras also show the exterior of the buses. We know that a lot of the incidents happen in and around the buses themselves. I indicated earlier that there were two
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .