❓ Mrs Roberts questions the Minister for Police on the delayed implementation of the Criminal Code Amendment (Infringement Notices) Bill, citing its purpose to alleviate police workload. The Minister deflects, blaming the previous government's underfunding of IT systems.
AnsweredQoN 108Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
INFRINGEMENT NOTICES SYSTEM —
IMPLEMENTATION
108. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the Criminal Code
Amendment (Infringement Notices) Bill passed by the Parliament on 14 April
2011.
(1) Given
that the purpose of the bill was to save police from lengthy administrative
work and time spent in court, and to free up police officers for the front
line, why, a year later, has the system not been implemented?
(2) Precisely
what is required to implement the infringement system?
(3) When
will the minister have the system up and running?
IMPLEMENTATION
108. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the Criminal Code
Amendment (Infringement Notices) Bill passed by the Parliament on 14 April
2011.
(1) Given
that the purpose of the bill was to save police from lengthy administrative
work and time spent in court, and to free up police officers for the front
line, why, a year later, has the system not been implemented?
(2) Precisely
what is required to implement the infringement system?
(3) When
will the minister have the system up and running?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
I had a feeling I would get asked this question today because the issue was
covered in The West Australian and I
am certainly more than happy to answer the question. When we came into
government, the police were in a devastated state. They had no funding for
information technology systems at all, the firearms infringement system was on
its knees and all other areas were on their knees. There was no investment in
IT at all; what was there was very, very limited.
Several
members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We had to divert
funding that was going to be allocated to a lot of infrastructure over to IT.
Otherwise —
Mr C.C. Porter : It was $60 million last
year.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : There was $60 million
last year, and when we came into power I think $30 million was spent in one lot
and about $15 million in another lot.
Mr P. Papalia : Can someone else help
him?
The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : That was done the
first year we came in because the whole system had collapsed. Perhaps that is
an exaggeration; it had almost collapsed. The former Labor government also
refused a request to fund the regional radio network system, which was
essential, but the former government did not do that. It cut funding on so many
things. When the former minister brought legislation into this house for the
cars of unlicensed drivers to be impounded, he scrubbed out the bit that
referred to any funding that was needed before the legislation went to cabinet.
Therefore, when we came in the cupboard was bare! That is the way the Labor
government was operating: all fluff and bubble—lots of promises, but no
substance. Given the looks of amazement on opposition members' faces,
they know what I am saying is the truth.
Several
members interjected.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Yes; it was. This is
the bloke who used to fall asleep at meetings and had to be kicked to keep
awake. Mr Speaker, let me just say this —
Several
members interjected.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : He makes more sense
asleep than you do awake!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Yes; he probably makes
more noise —
The SPEAKER : One person asked the
question and I expect one person to answer it. I do not want to hear from my
right, apart from the minister; and I do not want to hear from my left apart
from the member for Midland.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : To get to the nub of
the question that the member for Midland put forward, I felt it was important
to give a background of the funding. I want to let members know that we are
funding the IT system properly. I was asked by the Commissioner of Police for
the criminal penalty infringement notice legislation because it was
going to save time; it was going to save court time and there are lots of
benefits to it. It would keep a number of, young people particularly, out of
the court system and out of jail; that was the idea. Unfortunately the police
cannot organise the IT for any legislation until it has gone through both
houses, until they know exactly what this Parliament —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
That was a year ago.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
We do things properly.
Until
the police know what the legislation entails, they cannot organise tenders, the
process that is necessary, the planning —
Mr E.S. Ripper :
They have an appalling record of delivery and you stand up and defend them.
They have an appalling record of IT delivery and you just defend them.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
They have got no time for you, my friend! They have not got time for you, Mr
Skinflint! You refused to fund them every time, the same as you did for the
member for Girrawheen.
Point of Order
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS :
I draw the house's attention to standing order 72, ''Relevance''.
The minister is not answering my question; he is getting involved in personal
invective and he has probably infringed another standing order in doing that.
Mr R.F. Johnson :
Quote which one.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS :
Probably standing order 92.
Mr R.F. Johnson :
Ninety-two—what rubbish.
The SPEAKER :
Minister for Police, please proceed with your answer.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I
would love to, Mr Speaker, thank you.
I am disappointed that that particular system is not up and
running already, but we are trying to ensure that the IT that is put in place
for that will cover other systems of infringement. We cannot do it —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
So, when are you going to have it up and running? That was (3) of my question.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
Let me just say this. The funding —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
When are you going to do it? That was (3).
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
In answer to (3), the funding is there; it was there from the last budget. The
police will be able to do this but —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
So, when are you going to have it up and running? Is that too hard to answer?
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : This is a favourite tactic of the opposition —
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : When are you going to have it running? It is a reasonable
question.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Member for Midland, if you want to ask a
supplementary question I will give you an opportunity.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : I can
stand here as long as members like; that will be the end of question time. I
suggest to some members that if you want to be in this place and ask questions,
you might take it a little bit more seriously on occasion. Member for Midland,
if you want to ask a supplementary question I ask you to stop interjecting at
this point.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I
conclude my answer by simply saying that the police will do this as soon as
they can. I want them to do it as soon as they possibly can, but I understand
that they want to ensure that they do not just use this IT for that particular
part of legislation; they want to ensure that it is able to take on other
infringements that are not necessarily road traffic amendment infringements.
I had a feeling I would get asked this question today because the issue was
covered in The West Australian and I
am certainly more than happy to answer the question. When we came into
government, the police were in a devastated state. They had no funding for
information technology systems at all, the firearms infringement system was on
its knees and all other areas were on their knees. There was no investment in
IT at all; what was there was very, very limited.
Several
members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We had to divert
funding that was going to be allocated to a lot of infrastructure over to IT.
Otherwise —
Mr C.C. Porter : It was $60 million last
year.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : There was $60 million
last year, and when we came into power I think $30 million was spent in one lot
and about $15 million in another lot.
Mr P. Papalia : Can someone else help
him?
The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : That was done the
first year we came in because the whole system had collapsed. Perhaps that is
an exaggeration; it had almost collapsed. The former Labor government also
refused a request to fund the regional radio network system, which was
essential, but the former government did not do that. It cut funding on so many
things. When the former minister brought legislation into this house for the
cars of unlicensed drivers to be impounded, he scrubbed out the bit that
referred to any funding that was needed before the legislation went to cabinet.
Therefore, when we came in the cupboard was bare! That is the way the Labor
government was operating: all fluff and bubble—lots of promises, but no
substance. Given the looks of amazement on opposition members' faces,
they know what I am saying is the truth.
Several
members interjected.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Yes; it was. This is
the bloke who used to fall asleep at meetings and had to be kicked to keep
awake. Mr Speaker, let me just say this —
Several
members interjected.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : He makes more sense
asleep than you do awake!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Yes; he probably makes
more noise —
The SPEAKER : One person asked the
question and I expect one person to answer it. I do not want to hear from my
right, apart from the minister; and I do not want to hear from my left apart
from the member for Midland.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : To get to the nub of
the question that the member for Midland put forward, I felt it was important
to give a background of the funding. I want to let members know that we are
funding the IT system properly. I was asked by the Commissioner of Police for
the criminal penalty infringement notice legislation because it was
going to save time; it was going to save court time and there are lots of
benefits to it. It would keep a number of, young people particularly, out of
the court system and out of jail; that was the idea. Unfortunately the police
cannot organise the IT for any legislation until it has gone through both
houses, until they know exactly what this Parliament —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
That was a year ago.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
We do things properly.
Until
the police know what the legislation entails, they cannot organise tenders, the
process that is necessary, the planning —
Mr E.S. Ripper :
They have an appalling record of delivery and you stand up and defend them.
They have an appalling record of IT delivery and you just defend them.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
They have got no time for you, my friend! They have not got time for you, Mr
Skinflint! You refused to fund them every time, the same as you did for the
member for Girrawheen.
Point of Order
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS :
I draw the house's attention to standing order 72, ''Relevance''.
The minister is not answering my question; he is getting involved in personal
invective and he has probably infringed another standing order in doing that.
Mr R.F. Johnson :
Quote which one.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS :
Probably standing order 92.
Mr R.F. Johnson :
Ninety-two—what rubbish.
The SPEAKER :
Minister for Police, please proceed with your answer.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I
would love to, Mr Speaker, thank you.
I am disappointed that that particular system is not up and
running already, but we are trying to ensure that the IT that is put in place
for that will cover other systems of infringement. We cannot do it —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
So, when are you going to have it up and running? That was (3) of my question.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
Let me just say this. The funding —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
When are you going to do it? That was (3).
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Mr R.F. JOHNSON :
In answer to (3), the funding is there; it was there from the last budget. The
police will be able to do this but —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
So, when are you going to have it up and running? Is that too hard to answer?
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Mr
R.F. JOHNSON : This is a favourite tactic of the opposition —
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : When are you going to have it running? It is a reasonable
question.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Member for Midland, if you want to ask a
supplementary question I will give you an opportunity.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : I can
stand here as long as members like; that will be the end of question time. I
suggest to some members that if you want to be in this place and ask questions,
you might take it a little bit more seriously on occasion. Member for Midland,
if you want to ask a supplementary question I ask you to stop interjecting at
this point.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I
conclude my answer by simply saying that the police will do this as soon as
they can. I want them to do it as soon as they possibly can, but I understand
that they want to ensure that they do not just use this IT for that particular
part of legislation; they want to ensure that it is able to take on other
infringements that are not necessarily road traffic amendment infringements.
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