Mr. Waldron questions the Minister about the impact of the police tenure transfer policy on officer retention and well-being. The Minister acknowledges the issue and states the policy is under review.

AnsweredQoN 456Legislative Assembly
Asked
15 August 2006
Portfolio
Police and Emergency Services

QuestionView source ↗

POLICE - TENURE TRANSFER POLICY
Before I ask my question, I acknowledge the Narrogin seniors in the public gallery today, particularly Mr Arthur Duckworth, who was in prison with the current Speaker’s father during World War II; Mr George Forrest, who is the great nephew of the first Premier, John Forrest; and Mr Roy LeLievre, who will turn 100 in a couple of weeks. [Applause.] Mr T.K. WALDRON : I draw the minister’s attention to an article in the Pilbara News last Wednesday on the impact of forced tenure transfers for police that revealed that 21 Pilbara police officers had left the WA Police in the past 18 months. The government has promised to improve conditions in the police service, yet droves of police are resigning due to the forced tenure transfer policy and poor pay and conditions. (1) Does the minister acknowledge the stress and insecurity faced by police officers and their families who are constantly uprooted from their communities and relocated due to the requirements of the tenure transfer policy? (2) Does the minister support a review of that tenure transfer policy with the aim of retaining police officers by focusing on reducing stress suffered by WA police officers and their families as a result of forced relocation from their communities? Mr J.C. KOBELKE

AnswerView source ↗

(1)-(2) I thank the member for his question and I commend him on his comments to the rally outside. He spoke forcibly and honestly, which was very different from the approach taken by Leader of the Opposition. Several members interjected The SPEAKER : Order! Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
[Applause.] Mr T.K. WALDRON : I draw the minister’s attention to an article in the Pilbara News last Wednesday on the impact of forced tenure transfers for police that revealed that 21 Pilbara police officers had left the WA Police in the past 18 months. The government has promised to improve conditions in the police service, yet droves of police are resigning due to the forced tenure transfer policy and poor pay and conditions. (1) Does the minister acknowledge the stress and insecurity faced by police officers and their families who are constantly uprooted from their communities and relocated due to the requirements of the tenure transfer policy? (2) Does the minister support a review of that tenure transfer policy with the aim of retaining police officers by focusing on reducing stress suffered by WA police officers and their families as a result of forced relocation from their communities? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for his question and I commend him on his comments to the rally outside. He spoke forcibly and honestly, which was very different from the approach taken by Leader of the Opposition. Several members interjected The SPEAKER : Order! Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
Mr T.K. WALDRON : I draw the minister’s attention to an article in the Pilbara News last Wednesday on the impact of forced tenure transfers for police that revealed that 21 Pilbara police officers had left the WA Police in the past 18 months. The government has promised to improve conditions in the police service, yet droves of police are resigning due to the forced tenure transfer policy and poor pay and conditions. (1) Does the minister acknowledge the stress and insecurity faced by police officers and their families who are constantly uprooted from their communities and relocated due to the requirements of the tenure transfer policy? (2) Does the minister support a review of that tenure transfer policy with the aim of retaining police officers by focusing on reducing stress suffered by WA police officers and their families as a result of forced relocation from their communities? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for his question and I commend him on his comments to the rally outside. He spoke forcibly and honestly, which was very different from the approach taken by Leader of the Opposition. Several members interjected The SPEAKER : Order! Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
(1) Does the minister acknowledge the stress and insecurity faced by police officers and their families who are constantly uprooted from their communities and relocated due to the requirements of the tenure transfer policy? (2) Does the minister support a review of that tenure transfer policy with the aim of retaining police officers by focusing on reducing stress suffered by WA police officers and their families as a result of forced relocation from their communities? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for his question and I commend him on his comments to the rally outside. He spoke forcibly and honestly, which was very different from the approach taken by Leader of the Opposition. Several members interjected The SPEAKER : Order! Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
(2) Does the minister support a review of that tenure transfer policy with the aim of retaining police officers by focusing on reducing stress suffered by WA police officers and their families as a result of forced relocation from their communities? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for his question and I commend him on his comments to the rally outside. He spoke forcibly and honestly, which was very different from the approach taken by Leader of the Opposition. Several members interjected The SPEAKER : Order! Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for his question and I commend him on his comments to the rally outside. He spoke forcibly and honestly, which was very different from the approach taken by Leader of the Opposition. Several members interjected The SPEAKER : Order! Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
(1)-(2) I thank the member for his question and I commend him on his comments to the rally outside. He spoke forcibly and honestly, which was very different from the approach taken by Leader of the Opposition. Several members interjected The SPEAKER : Order! Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
Several members interjected The SPEAKER : Order! Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
The SPEAKER : Order! Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The member has raised a very real issue. Our police must serve in all parts of this very vast state and that often means dislocation for their families. The tenure transfer policy under which officers are forced to relocate is one that we can always consider managing better. However, it is an operational matter in which I do not interfere, albeit I do have a role to play in this regard. As the member has already indicated, in the past, officers have resigned or retired because they would not accept a transfer that was given to them. That sort of matter must be managed, and I think we can manage it better. The Commissioner of Police is considering it, and we are very aware of the stress imposed on officers and their families who are relocated in the process of ensuring there are adequate police across this vast state.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more