❓ A WA parliamentary question regarding police recruitment and protection of regional WA, with the Minister responding by highlighting record police numbers and criticising a Liberal Party campaign manager for undermining gun laws.
AnsweredQoN 904Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
POLICE — RECRUITMENT
904. Ms L. DALTON to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's commitment to addressing the challenges in the regions to
keep the Western Australian community safe.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how this
government's record growth for our police force is protecting regional Western Australia?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone who is undermining Western
Australia's hardworking police force?
904. Ms L. DALTON to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's commitment to addressing the challenges in the regions to
keep the Western Australian community safe.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how this
government's record growth for our police force is protecting regional Western Australia?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone who is undermining Western
Australia's hardworking police force?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question
and her support for the Western Australia Police Force, particularly her local
officers whom I recently visited in her company.
(1) I can confirm that the Western Australia Police
Force has more officers than ever before in history, as of today, and we
are growing that number at a record rate. Today there are 7 264 police officers
in Western Australia. That is 764 more than when the Liberal Party and
Nationals WA were in government. As I speak, there are 344 officer recruits at
the training academy. Members know, because they have heard me say it many times, that the academy is at capacity and will be
training in the order of 1 000 cadets every 12 months.
I have good news on the other side of
the ledger with attrition. Those who are resigning has returned to numbers not
seen in more than a decade. Last month, there were 20 resignations of officers,
which is the same number that resigned at
this time in 2012. This month, to date, with a couple of days left in the month ,
there have been 10 resignations. We are growing the police force at a huge
rate. That means that right across the regions we can afford the commissioner
with as many police officers as he requires to address community safety right
across the state. The member for Geraldton knows that I was in Geraldton to
launch one of the things the police are doing to keep our community safe,
particularly the regions, which is the
summer regional crime crackdown, commencing in the beautiful midwest and the
magnificent city of Geraldton. We did that with the member recently and
it will be rolled out further afield in coming weeks.
The state government has also
delivered the toughest anti-bikie laws in the country, as a legacy of the
Attorney General; the toughest child sex crime offender laws in the country,
another legacy of the Attorney General; and the toughest gun crime laws in the
country.
(2) Am I aware of
anyone undermining the Western Australia Police Force? Sadly, I do have
information that would suggest there is
someone actively out there doing that. It is the same person who the Minister for Planning referred to. Unfortunately, I do not have a Betty
Confetti story. It is not funny. Cameron Sinclair, whom we are reliably
informed by members of the Liberal Party has a power over the Liberal candidate
for Churchlands that requires him to seek permission before he gets out of bed
in the morning, is the leader of Ammo Marketing. That is his company. Until
moments ago, when the claimed stepping aside occurred, Cameron Sinclair was the
campaign manager for the Liberal candidate for Churchlands. Members may not be
aware that he is the campaign manager for someone else. He is the campaign manager
for the Western Australian Firearms Community Alliance—the gun lobby
group in Western Australia. He owns the WAFCA website. Ammo Marketing proudly
tells the world that one of its achievements
was building an automated tool to allow gun owners to make submissions during
the consultation period for the Firearms Act reforms. He also signed the
petition to repeal the Firearms
Amendment Bill, along with 11 other Liberal candidates—although, he is
not a candidate; he just controls one. He is also the person who helped
architect the campaign to actively attack firearms reform at the outset.
Personally, he spread falsehoods about me online. He is the person who designed
that. That is the individual who, we understand from the story in which he
claims to have stepped aside from the campaign for the Liberal candidate
for Churchlands, is reportedly still working for the Liberal Party in other
ways.
The campaign manager for the Liberal
candidate for Churchlands opposes the toughest gun laws in the country, which
were, in part, designed to respond to the appalling murders in Floreat—a
suburb in the seat of Churchlands. Those laws were amended as they were passing
through the upper house to address matters like the collection of Glocks, and
ammunition for Glocks, and to address matters like being able take firearms
from family and domestic violence offenders at a very early stage in their
interactions with the police. That is what
those laws do. They are being opposed, shamefully, by the Nationals WA. At
least the Nationals are aboveboard and out of the shadows on it. I had a
question to the Liberal candidate for Churchlands that I posed a week or so
ago. We all know that he has a platform. It is not like he is always hiding in the shadows. He has the ability to tell
people what he actually supports and what he opposes. Here it is,
Liberal candidate for Churchlands—number one of the Ten Commandments
tomorrow. Give us the answer: do you support the toughest gun laws in
the country, which are designed to elevate community
safety to the number one consideration, or do you support your campaign manager's
campaign against those laws?
and her support for the Western Australia Police Force, particularly her local
officers whom I recently visited in her company.
(1) I can confirm that the Western Australia Police
Force has more officers than ever before in history, as of today, and we
are growing that number at a record rate. Today there are 7 264 police officers
in Western Australia. That is 764 more than when the Liberal Party and
Nationals WA were in government. As I speak, there are 344 officer recruits at
the training academy. Members know, because they have heard me say it many times, that the academy is at capacity and will be
training in the order of 1 000 cadets every 12 months.
I have good news on the other side of
the ledger with attrition. Those who are resigning has returned to numbers not
seen in more than a decade. Last month, there were 20 resignations of officers,
which is the same number that resigned at
this time in 2012. This month, to date, with a couple of days left in the month ,
there have been 10 resignations. We are growing the police force at a huge
rate. That means that right across the regions we can afford the commissioner
with as many police officers as he requires to address community safety right
across the state. The member for Geraldton knows that I was in Geraldton to
launch one of the things the police are doing to keep our community safe,
particularly the regions, which is the
summer regional crime crackdown, commencing in the beautiful midwest and the
magnificent city of Geraldton. We did that with the member recently and
it will be rolled out further afield in coming weeks.
The state government has also
delivered the toughest anti-bikie laws in the country, as a legacy of the
Attorney General; the toughest child sex crime offender laws in the country,
another legacy of the Attorney General; and the toughest gun crime laws in the
country.
(2) Am I aware of
anyone undermining the Western Australia Police Force? Sadly, I do have
information that would suggest there is
someone actively out there doing that. It is the same person who the Minister for Planning referred to. Unfortunately, I do not have a Betty
Confetti story. It is not funny. Cameron Sinclair, whom we are reliably
informed by members of the Liberal Party has a power over the Liberal candidate
for Churchlands that requires him to seek permission before he gets out of bed
in the morning, is the leader of Ammo Marketing. That is his company. Until
moments ago, when the claimed stepping aside occurred, Cameron Sinclair was the
campaign manager for the Liberal candidate for Churchlands. Members may not be
aware that he is the campaign manager for someone else. He is the campaign manager
for the Western Australian Firearms Community Alliance—the gun lobby
group in Western Australia. He owns the WAFCA website. Ammo Marketing proudly
tells the world that one of its achievements
was building an automated tool to allow gun owners to make submissions during
the consultation period for the Firearms Act reforms. He also signed the
petition to repeal the Firearms
Amendment Bill, along with 11 other Liberal candidates—although, he is
not a candidate; he just controls one. He is also the person who helped
architect the campaign to actively attack firearms reform at the outset.
Personally, he spread falsehoods about me online. He is the person who designed
that. That is the individual who, we understand from the story in which he
claims to have stepped aside from the campaign for the Liberal candidate
for Churchlands, is reportedly still working for the Liberal Party in other
ways.
The campaign manager for the Liberal
candidate for Churchlands opposes the toughest gun laws in the country, which
were, in part, designed to respond to the appalling murders in Floreat—a
suburb in the seat of Churchlands. Those laws were amended as they were passing
through the upper house to address matters like the collection of Glocks, and
ammunition for Glocks, and to address matters like being able take firearms
from family and domestic violence offenders at a very early stage in their
interactions with the police. That is what
those laws do. They are being opposed, shamefully, by the Nationals WA. At
least the Nationals are aboveboard and out of the shadows on it. I had a
question to the Liberal candidate for Churchlands that I posed a week or so
ago. We all know that he has a platform. It is not like he is always hiding in the shadows. He has the ability to tell
people what he actually supports and what he opposes. Here it is,
Liberal candidate for Churchlands—number one of the Ten Commandments
tomorrow. Give us the answer: do you support the toughest gun laws in
the country, which are designed to elevate community
safety to the number one consideration, or do you support your campaign manager's
campaign against those laws?
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