Page 2853 - Week 09 - Thursday, 13 August 2015
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What did Simon Corbell say? Mr Corbell said:
The Australian Federal Police Association are being alarmist.
This is a man that says they are being alarmist but what we hear in estimates is starkly in contrast. He was not an alarmist! Again, the Australian Federal Police Association who warned the bikies would come from New South Wales, the Australian Federal Police Association who warned that staff would be cut, and who were dismissed as alarmist by the minister, were proved correct in fact. Mr Gellatly said:
As predicted in 2013, there is now pressure on ACT Policing staffing numbers as we approach the third year of those savings.
He also said:
Compounding government cuts and pressure on staff numbers is that ACT Policing numbers have fallen to the lowest level of all Australian police forces at 221 per one hundred thousand.
The AFPA calls on the ACT Government to drop the savings measures and ensure ACT Policing staff numbers are not cut.
Indeed, we had a motion in this place in May this year saying exactly that: restore the $15 million. What did the government do? They put $3 million back in and patted themselves on the back and had big announcements, “Extra resources for police.” Only the most Machiavellian of all governments could cut $15 million, restore $3 million and then spin that as some big boosted funding for policing. It is absolute nonsense.
It really comes to a point of difference between us on this side and those on that side. We support our front-line police. We have had calls for aggravated offences, where police have been assaulted, rejected by this government. We have said, “Let’s give tasers to front-line police.” This has been rejected by those opposite. Both of those measures would have significant effect. I speak to the police. You see them out and about all the time. You have a chat. We talk to the Australian Federal Police Association. The reality is that they are understaffed.
We know that a health and safety notice was put in about safety concerns about staff numbers in Civic. I quote from that:
The staffing numbers of the ACT City Beats Teams has been universally acknowledged by the ACT Operations Committee … as being inadequate to allow effective and safe deployment of personnel to those duties during the hours of darkness …
And:
By allowing a continuation of a situation where staffing levels are so low that members are constantly and continually being placed in situations where because of a dearth of numbers they are regularly outnumbered by intoxicated and aggressive people placing them at unreasonable risk of serious injury due to violence.
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