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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 8 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 2526 ..

MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, my question is to Mr Humphries, the Minister for Police. Minister, how many jobs are currently vacant in the ACT police establishment? Is that number abnormally high? If so, what is the reason for those vacancies?

MR HUMPHRIES: Did you say, "Are there jobs vacant in the establishment?".

Mr Wood: Yes. How many gaps are there?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, Mr Osborne asked a question yesterday. I gave an answer which I subsequently corrected here when I said that it was my understanding that the establishment of the AFP had not actually increased although we were seeking to recruit to that level. I should correct my correction because, according to the figures that have been supplied to me by the AFP, which I had originally seen and had based my first answer to the question on, the establishment has increased from about 7 August. Instead of 689, it now stands at 694. That is the establishment which the ACT Government effectively purchases from the Commonwealth. It does not pay for all those positions. Account is taken of the role in Commonwealth policing for which the Commonwealth subsidises us.

Members who sat on the Estimates Committee last June, or whenever it was, will recall that there were questions about the extent to which the number of police being purchased by the ACT was actually being fulfilled by the Commonwealth Government. I have had discussions with the Commissioner of the AFP, the Chief Police Officer for the ACT, to ascertain what the situation is. I have to say quite frankly to the house that I do not think as yet the full complement being purchased by the ACT is being supplied by the AFP - that is, the deficiency or shortfall which was identified before the Estimates Committee, whenever it was, is still not yet addressed by the AFP.

I have been involved in discussions with the police about that matter on several occasions. I expect to see the commissioner in the next few days to further discuss that matter and to reinforce the point that the ACT must get every one of the 694 bodies that it pays for, and that we must have any shortfall in the past restored to us either by way of additional police or by way of refund of money we are paying to the Commonwealth of some $50m. Mr Speaker, it is a matter that I regret we have not yet concluded with the Commonwealth; but we will pursue it actively and vigorously, and I will keep the house fully informed.

MR WOOD: We would like to see some success there, Mr Speaker. My supplementary question is this: Is this failure to have the full complement, for the reasons you have given and also for reasons of various absences from attendance at work for leave and the like, the reason for the pressure on police at the moment? For example, one police car was rostered at the time of a reported robbery in progress at North Lyneham which occurred at the change of shift time for the police, but not for the robber. What can you do about this pressure on the police, not just for the reasons you gave but for the whole difficulty of getting police up to your numbers on all occasions?

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