❓ A parliamentary question regarding the Liberal-National government's law and order achievements over the past four years, with the Minister outlining increased police funding, staffing, and legislative measures aimed at reducing crime.
AnsweredQoN 729Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
LAW AND
ORDER AGENDA — LIBERAL–NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
729. Mr M.W. SUTHERLAND to the Minister for Police:
The Liberal–National government has followed an
uncompromising law and order agenda. Can the minister please outline to the
house some of our achievements over the last four years to protect the Western
Australian community?
ORDER AGENDA — LIBERAL–NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
729. Mr M.W. SUTHERLAND to the Minister for Police:
The Liberal–National government has followed an
uncompromising law and order agenda. Can the minister please outline to the
house some of our achievements over the last four years to protect the Western
Australian community?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question and indeed his strong
interest in law and order matters.
The Liberal–National government has consistently made
decisions in keeping with our beliefs and our policies. Our belief is that the
fundamental role of police is to detect offending and to drive down crime. We
believe that our police need to be funded appropriately. We believe they need
to have clear laws, robust powers and robust protections to enable them to go
about their activities with confidence. We believe on this side of the house
that if we put more criminals away in jail, we will have fewer offenders in the
community, and we believe that the courts and the Department of Corrective
Services need to be funded and equipped to support the police in the important
job that they do. We have increased the budget, member for Mount Lawley, over
the four years we have been in government, by 25 per cent, which is double the
rate of population growth in the state. We have put more police on the street.
We have recruited 180 additional police officers and 120 police auxiliary
officers.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We are currently engaged in a recruitment program that will deliver 170 additional
police officers, and 30 additional police auxiliary officers. In addition, we
have introduced legislation, and we are supporting programs to assist police in
targeting particular offending. We are supporting police in targeting the
prolific priority offenders.
Mr M.P. Murray interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Collie–Preston!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We have a more stringent approach to parole. We have reinstated the Graffiti
Taskforce, introduced laws for impounding the motor vehicles of repeat
offenders, and introduced mandatory sentencing for those who assault police
officers. Yesterday, this Parliament passed legislation that will empower
police to have a serious impact on organised crime in this state. That is
legislation that WA Police has been watching very, very closely and very much
awaiting.
The member for Midland and those
opposite claim that this is a failure and crime is on the way up; nothing could
be further from the truth. In 2007–08, there were 211 736 reported
offences. Our figures from last year, compared with the last year under those
opposite, show 5.3 per cent fewer reported offences against the person, with a
10.8 per cent decrease in reported offences against property. Overall crime is
nine per cent down compared with the last year Labor was in office. What that
translates to is 19 200 —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : I do not need commentary throughout the Minister for Police's
answer to this question. I do not need unnecessary commentary and I do not want
to hear any.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : That equates to 19 200 fewer victims of crime in this state in
the last financial year, compared with the year we came into government. If
members are interested, crime in this quarter has shown a continual trend
downwards, with 2.4 per cent fewer offences overall.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : Compared with what period?
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : Compared with this quarter last year, so we are heading in the
right direction.
Going into the future, in the
context of this state's growing population and the increased demand
that will place on police resources, this Liberal government will make sure
that police are well resourced to continue combating crime in our community. We
are committed to assisting the police in driving down crime. We are working on
having police undertake less paperwork and having less red tape to deal with as
they go about their duties, and having less time behind a desk and more time
out on the street. We think that is going to work. We are working on policies
to safeguard officer welfare and wellbeing, particularly in the area of mental
health. We will also implement any legislative and practical measure we need to,
to ensure that police officers in this state can go about keeping the community
safe and locking up those people who need to be behind bars in the full
confidence that they have the support of this Liberal–National state
government 100 per cent of the way.
interest in law and order matters.
The Liberal–National government has consistently made
decisions in keeping with our beliefs and our policies. Our belief is that the
fundamental role of police is to detect offending and to drive down crime. We
believe that our police need to be funded appropriately. We believe they need
to have clear laws, robust powers and robust protections to enable them to go
about their activities with confidence. We believe on this side of the house
that if we put more criminals away in jail, we will have fewer offenders in the
community, and we believe that the courts and the Department of Corrective
Services need to be funded and equipped to support the police in the important
job that they do. We have increased the budget, member for Mount Lawley, over
the four years we have been in government, by 25 per cent, which is double the
rate of population growth in the state. We have put more police on the street.
We have recruited 180 additional police officers and 120 police auxiliary
officers.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We are currently engaged in a recruitment program that will deliver 170 additional
police officers, and 30 additional police auxiliary officers. In addition, we
have introduced legislation, and we are supporting programs to assist police in
targeting particular offending. We are supporting police in targeting the
prolific priority offenders.
Mr M.P. Murray interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Collie–Preston!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We have a more stringent approach to parole. We have reinstated the Graffiti
Taskforce, introduced laws for impounding the motor vehicles of repeat
offenders, and introduced mandatory sentencing for those who assault police
officers. Yesterday, this Parliament passed legislation that will empower
police to have a serious impact on organised crime in this state. That is
legislation that WA Police has been watching very, very closely and very much
awaiting.
The member for Midland and those
opposite claim that this is a failure and crime is on the way up; nothing could
be further from the truth. In 2007–08, there were 211 736 reported
offences. Our figures from last year, compared with the last year under those
opposite, show 5.3 per cent fewer reported offences against the person, with a
10.8 per cent decrease in reported offences against property. Overall crime is
nine per cent down compared with the last year Labor was in office. What that
translates to is 19 200 —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : I do not need commentary throughout the Minister for Police's
answer to this question. I do not need unnecessary commentary and I do not want
to hear any.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : That equates to 19 200 fewer victims of crime in this state in
the last financial year, compared with the year we came into government. If
members are interested, crime in this quarter has shown a continual trend
downwards, with 2.4 per cent fewer offences overall.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : Compared with what period?
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : Compared with this quarter last year, so we are heading in the
right direction.
Going into the future, in the
context of this state's growing population and the increased demand
that will place on police resources, this Liberal government will make sure
that police are well resourced to continue combating crime in our community. We
are committed to assisting the police in driving down crime. We are working on
having police undertake less paperwork and having less red tape to deal with as
they go about their duties, and having less time behind a desk and more time
out on the street. We think that is going to work. We are working on policies
to safeguard officer welfare and wellbeing, particularly in the area of mental
health. We will also implement any legislative and practical measure we need to,
to ensure that police officers in this state can go about keeping the community
safe and locking up those people who need to be behind bars in the full
confidence that they have the support of this Liberal–National state
government 100 per cent of the way.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.