Gary's Speeches

Police: Narracan electorate

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I wish to raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. The action I seek is for the minister to urgently address the lack of police numbers in the Narracan electorate. For the last eight weeks the Neerim South police station has been closed due to members being on annual leave, sick leave and compassionate leave. Police command did not have the numbers to fill these vacancies; therefore the safety of the Neerim and district community was compromised for an unacceptable length of time.

Neerim South is a 16-hour station, and outside those hours police response has to come from Warragul, at least 20 minutes away, or sometimes from even further -- from Pakenham or Moe, 45 minutes away, if Warragul is unable to respond.

For four years I have been calling for the Neerim South police to be available for 24 hours a day. For four years this arrogant Brumby government and its incompetent police minister have ignored this request and ignored the needs of the Neerim and district community. Neerim South is a growing community, and tourism numbers continue to increase, especially at weekends. Police have a responsibility for a large area of state forest, including Mount Baw Baw.

Police numbers at Trafalgar have also been reduced, as resources have been dragged to Moe to man the D24 unit. Again front line police are covering administrative positions that should be delivered out of the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority facility at Ballarat; the minister still refuses to fully fund the staffing of this facility.

It is another broken promise of the Brumby government, another service not delivered and another example of the public safety of Victorian communities being compromised, despite 11 years of record income.

Now we have the deplorable situation where the Baw Baw Shire Council is forced to employ security guards for the Drouin swimming pool, because the local police, due to lack of police availability, cannot guarantee they will be able to respond to incidents at the pool. As is the situation in Frankston, ratepayers are being called on to cover the cost of community safety, because this arrogant Brumby government continues to ignore the fact that police numbers in many communities are hopelessly inadequate.

Frankston residents are having to pay $250 000 over the next 12 months to put security officers on the beat.

Baw Baw Shire Council is having to pay nearly $10 000 per month to put security officers in place at Drouin pool during the swimming season so as to protect staff and patrons.

What is wrong with this government? It has a budget more than double what it was in 1999, yet it still cannot provide basic services, and its inaction indicates the members of the government do not even care. I call on the police minister to get his head out of the sand and provide police command with the funding required to put the appropriate police numbers back on the job. Victorians deserve better. The police minister must act now.