❓ A parliamentary question regarding allegations that WA Police officers were relaxing at the Cable Beach Club Resort instead of performing their duties in Broome, related to the James Price Point protests. The Minister strongly denies the claims and defends the police.
AnsweredQoN 225Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
JAMES PRICE POINT — POLICE PRESENCE —
CABLE BEACH CLUB RESORT
225. Mr A. KRSTICEVIC to the Minister for Police:
I heard the Leader of the Opposition on radio this morning
claiming that WA Police officers were sitting in the Cable Beach Club Resort in
Broome, and that was reducing the broader security and safety of people around
the place. Can the minister inform the house whether this extraordinary
accusation is true?
CABLE BEACH CLUB RESORT
225. Mr A. KRSTICEVIC to the Minister for Police:
I heard the Leader of the Opposition on radio this morning
claiming that WA Police officers were sitting in the Cable Beach Club Resort in
Broome, and that was reducing the broader security and safety of people around
the place. Can the minister inform the house whether this extraordinary
accusation is true?
AnswerView source ↗
I want to say, first of all, that I believe that the comments
made by the Leader of the Opposition on radio this morning were a disgraceful
slur against our hardworking police officers, and they were untrue. I can tell
members this: no police officers are staying at Cable Beach resort. All
officers remaining in Broome are gainfully employed. They are not, as the
Leader of the Opposition would have us believe, sipping pina coladas and
lounging around poolside at Cable Beach resort. They are not doing that. That
is what the Leader of the Opposition would have people believe.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Thank
you, members!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I
can tell members they are certainly not at Cable Beach resort.
Mr M. McGowan :
Where are they?
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
They are in the Kimberley,
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : I
give the opportunity to the minister to answer the question that he has been
asked. I am not expecting any more interjections.
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : The Leader of the Opposition has asked, ''Where are
they?'' Thirteen officers have returned to their home locations in the
Kimberley district. The remainder of the police are working normal policing shifts
in Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, South Hedland and Kununurra.
Mr
F.M. Logan : Where are they staying and what are they drinking?
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : What a disgraceful slur!
Mr
F.M. Logan : You said they are not drinking pina coladas. So what are they
drinking?
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cockburn, I formally call you to order for the first
and second time today. Member for Girrawheen, I will let you know that you are
on three calls. I can stand here, members, until all of you manage to
reassemble yourselves and treat the process seriously. You have an opportunity
in this place to ask questions. You might not always get the answer that you
want, no matter what side you are coming from, but treat the other members in
this place with some respect, members.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
As I say, I found the comments from the Leader of the Opposition absolutely
disgraceful and a typical slur against our police officers. The Leader of the
Opposition has asked what the police officers are doing. They are conducting
concurrent training; they are assisting detectives with search warrants, with
four warrants executed for two kilos of drugs, and stolen property, that has
been located; there are foot patrols in the town site; and there is the
execution of violence restraining orders and warrants. I am sure the Leader of
the Opposition would support that, would he not?
Mr M. McGowan : I
saw them on television, running down a road next to a truck!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
The Leader of the Opposition did not see them lounging around in Cable Beach
resort. That is the impression that he gave on radio this morning. The Leader
of the Opposition should be ashamed of himself.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan, I formally call you to order for the first
and second time today. It should not take this long to get through a question.
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : An interjection from the shadow police minister said that
crime should be going down. It is down 8.3 per cent compared with the same
period in 2007–08 when members opposite were in government. We are way
down on when members opposite were in government.
Let me just conclude on that question, because it is
important to know what our police officers are doing in the Kimberley. The
number of additional police in Broome is based on the safety of the community,
protesters and the police. We are including protesters in that, because I want
members to know that last year, there were 52 arrests, with 25 arrests on one
day; 65 infringement notices; 83 move-on notices; and four summonses. Based on
information received, intelligence, and local knowledge, the police
commissioner has brought in additional police to deal with those protesters, to
support the front-line police in Broome.
This is a busy time for Broome
police, because it is the tourist season, and the population of Broome does
increase during this season. The number of additional police is based on how
the commissioner thinks this situation can best be resolved. The numbers are
also based on the worst-case scenario. The police are confident that they have
sufficient officers to deal with any situation that may arise. It takes up to
four police officers to arrest one violent person—one violent protester—in
case the Leader of the Opposition was not aware of that. He should try to do front-line
duty one day. The Leader of the Opposition also made the claim that 140 police
officers were taken out of suburbs and towns to march up and down dusty roads
in the Kimberley. On Monday, there were approximately 20 protesters at the site
and approximately 55 police.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. Member for Warnbro, I formally call you to order for the second
time today. Minister, I suggest to you that there should not be much more left
to the answer to this question.
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : I assure you, Mr Speaker, I am about to conclude.
What I want to get across is that on
Monday there were approximately 20 protesters. Police were, based on
intelligence, expecting more. There were approximately 55, not 140, police
officers marching up and down dusty roads, which is obviously what the Leader
of the Opposition thinks is the proper use of our police resources! This is the
disdain that the opposition has for our police officers. The Leader of the
Opposition has for too long been hanging around the member for Mindarie, with
his disgraceful comments about our police.
Mr
J.R. Quigley interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mindarie!
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Minister for Police, if you expect to be heard in silence, I suggest to you
that there are some things that perhaps you should not say in this place. I
think you want to make a point of order, member for Midland.
Point of Order
Mrs
M.H. ROBERTS : I do want to make a point of order; thank you, Mr Speaker.
The Minister for Police referred to two separate documents from which he read
parts of his answer. I call upon him to table those documents.
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : They are not agency documents; they are my own notes.
As you can see, Mr Speaker, there is a lot of my own writing or other writing
on them; they are not official documents.
made by the Leader of the Opposition on radio this morning were a disgraceful
slur against our hardworking police officers, and they were untrue. I can tell
members this: no police officers are staying at Cable Beach resort. All
officers remaining in Broome are gainfully employed. They are not, as the
Leader of the Opposition would have us believe, sipping pina coladas and
lounging around poolside at Cable Beach resort. They are not doing that. That
is what the Leader of the Opposition would have people believe.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Thank
you, members!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I
can tell members they are certainly not at Cable Beach resort.
Mr M. McGowan :
Where are they?
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
They are in the Kimberley,
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : I
give the opportunity to the minister to answer the question that he has been
asked. I am not expecting any more interjections.
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : The Leader of the Opposition has asked, ''Where are
they?'' Thirteen officers have returned to their home locations in the
Kimberley district. The remainder of the police are working normal policing shifts
in Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, South Hedland and Kununurra.
Mr
F.M. Logan : Where are they staying and what are they drinking?
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : What a disgraceful slur!
Mr
F.M. Logan : You said they are not drinking pina coladas. So what are they
drinking?
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cockburn, I formally call you to order for the first
and second time today. Member for Girrawheen, I will let you know that you are
on three calls. I can stand here, members, until all of you manage to
reassemble yourselves and treat the process seriously. You have an opportunity
in this place to ask questions. You might not always get the answer that you
want, no matter what side you are coming from, but treat the other members in
this place with some respect, members.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
As I say, I found the comments from the Leader of the Opposition absolutely
disgraceful and a typical slur against our police officers. The Leader of the
Opposition has asked what the police officers are doing. They are conducting
concurrent training; they are assisting detectives with search warrants, with
four warrants executed for two kilos of drugs, and stolen property, that has
been located; there are foot patrols in the town site; and there is the
execution of violence restraining orders and warrants. I am sure the Leader of
the Opposition would support that, would he not?
Mr M. McGowan : I
saw them on television, running down a road next to a truck!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
The Leader of the Opposition did not see them lounging around in Cable Beach
resort. That is the impression that he gave on radio this morning. The Leader
of the Opposition should be ashamed of himself.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan, I formally call you to order for the first
and second time today. It should not take this long to get through a question.
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : An interjection from the shadow police minister said that
crime should be going down. It is down 8.3 per cent compared with the same
period in 2007–08 when members opposite were in government. We are way
down on when members opposite were in government.
Let me just conclude on that question, because it is
important to know what our police officers are doing in the Kimberley. The
number of additional police in Broome is based on the safety of the community,
protesters and the police. We are including protesters in that, because I want
members to know that last year, there were 52 arrests, with 25 arrests on one
day; 65 infringement notices; 83 move-on notices; and four summonses. Based on
information received, intelligence, and local knowledge, the police
commissioner has brought in additional police to deal with those protesters, to
support the front-line police in Broome.
This is a busy time for Broome
police, because it is the tourist season, and the population of Broome does
increase during this season. The number of additional police is based on how
the commissioner thinks this situation can best be resolved. The numbers are
also based on the worst-case scenario. The police are confident that they have
sufficient officers to deal with any situation that may arise. It takes up to
four police officers to arrest one violent person—one violent protester—in
case the Leader of the Opposition was not aware of that. He should try to do front-line
duty one day. The Leader of the Opposition also made the claim that 140 police
officers were taken out of suburbs and towns to march up and down dusty roads
in the Kimberley. On Monday, there were approximately 20 protesters at the site
and approximately 55 police.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. Member for Warnbro, I formally call you to order for the second
time today. Minister, I suggest to you that there should not be much more left
to the answer to this question.
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : I assure you, Mr Speaker, I am about to conclude.
What I want to get across is that on
Monday there were approximately 20 protesters. Police were, based on
intelligence, expecting more. There were approximately 55, not 140, police
officers marching up and down dusty roads, which is obviously what the Leader
of the Opposition thinks is the proper use of our police resources! This is the
disdain that the opposition has for our police officers. The Leader of the
Opposition has for too long been hanging around the member for Mindarie, with
his disgraceful comments about our police.
Mr
J.R. Quigley interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mindarie!
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Minister for Police, if you expect to be heard in silence, I suggest to you
that there are some things that perhaps you should not say in this place. I
think you want to make a point of order, member for Midland.
Point of Order
Mrs
M.H. ROBERTS : I do want to make a point of order; thank you, Mr Speaker.
The Minister for Police referred to two separate documents from which he read
parts of his answer. I call upon him to table those documents.
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : They are not agency documents; they are my own notes.
As you can see, Mr Speaker, there is a lot of my own writing or other writing
on them; they are not official documents.
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