❓ Opposition raises concerns about a shortage of police prosecutors and its impact on public safety. The Minister deflects responsibility, stating it's the Police Commissioner's decision on officer allocation.
AnsweredQoN 180Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
POLICE PROSECUTORS
180. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Police:
Last
week the minister provided the response to one of my questions on notice, which
indicated that Western Australia is
currently operating with a deficit of over 28 full-time equivalent police
prosecutors. In the midst of a crime crisis, is it in the interests of public safety to have police prosecutors
operating with only 80 per cent of their staffing capacity?
180. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Police:
Last
week the minister provided the response to one of my questions on notice, which
indicated that Western Australia is
currently operating with a deficit of over 28 full-time equivalent police
prosecutors. In the midst of a crime crisis, is it in the interests of public safety to have police prosecutors
operating with only 80 per cent of their staffing capacity?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the Leader of the Opposition.
The bottom line is that where individual police officers go, where they are
assigned and the tasks they undertake is entirely the responsibility and at the
behest of the Commissioner of Police. I do not get to tell the commissioner
where to put his officers or what tasks they should be undertaking; that would
be completely wrong. Whether there is a certain number or another number in
police prosecutions, if the member has some concern with the way the
commissioner is operating police prosecutions, that is up to him. It is his
decision to criticise the commissioner for doing that, but I will not do that.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister, before
you continue, the interjections are unruly and what you are interjecting is not
an appropriate question because you are effectively asking the minister for an
opinion, which is not allowed.
Mr P. PAPALIA : I would not
pretend to be as knowledgeable as the police commissioner about where his
officers should be posted and what tasks they should be given; I will leave
that to him.
The bottom line is that where individual police officers go, where they are
assigned and the tasks they undertake is entirely the responsibility and at the
behest of the Commissioner of Police. I do not get to tell the commissioner
where to put his officers or what tasks they should be undertaking; that would
be completely wrong. Whether there is a certain number or another number in
police prosecutions, if the member has some concern with the way the
commissioner is operating police prosecutions, that is up to him. It is his
decision to criticise the commissioner for doing that, but I will not do that.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister, before
you continue, the interjections are unruly and what you are interjecting is not
an appropriate question because you are effectively asking the minister for an
opinion, which is not allowed.
Mr P. PAPALIA : I would not
pretend to be as knowledgeable as the police commissioner about where his
officers should be posted and what tasks they should be given; I will leave
that to him.
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.