Page 4220 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 16 November 2005
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pertaining to rural and remote areas. Havelock Housing Association won the national award for excellence in organisational management. This award is for development of effective systems to manage its activities, as well as the extent to which tenant participation in the organisation is supported. Havelock was also highly commended in two award categories: overall excellence in community housing and excellence in asset management.
It is to the benefit of all Canberrans, but especially those who are less well off, to have a national leader in deliverance of community housing here in the territory, and I would like to sincerely congratulate Havelock Housing and hope that my Assembly colleagues join with me in wishing them well for next year’s awards.
Policing—numbers
MR PRATT: My question is to the minister for police, Mr Hargreaves. Minister, in 2004-05, according to ACT Policing’s annual report, there was a total of 571 sworn full-time equivalent police, almost 32 less than in 2001-02, when there were 602.7 FTEs. However, you said in debate in this Assembly on 7 August 2001, Hansard, page 2453:
… we do not have enough police—
to enforce the law—
We do not have enough police to address home invasions, even though the rate has gone down. We have not got enough police to address motor vehicle thefts …
Minister, if you did not feel that there were enough police officers in 2001 to sufficiently protect the Canberra community, and we actually had 32 more FTEs back then, why do you now claim that police numbers are adequate?
MR HARGREAVES: That was at the absolute height of the Liberal Party’s ineptitude and incompetence concerning protecting the people of the ACT. That was at the screaming height of the Himalayas of ineptitude and incompetence to which the people opposite had subjected the people of the ACT. My predecessor did many things which were fantastic. One of the things that he did, I have to say, as an integral part of the Stanhope government, was that he endorsed the change in the way we do things.
I do not know how many times I have said it in this chamber, but I will say it yet again for the benefit of the man across the chamber: he has a serious problem with reading. He should go to remedial classes, try to listen when we speak, and read the Hansard of recently a bit more. The nature of policing in this town has changed. Everybody in this town knows that except the guy across there. Everybody else in this town knows it.
The nature of intelligence-led policing, yet again I will say it, has resulted in crime reductions in this town. Since the time when the characters opposite were in office we have had huge reductions. I also observe that in recent times, thanks to the direction of the new Chief Police Officer, Audrey Fagan—you may have noticed it, Mr Speaker; certainly the chamber must have noticed—there has been a greater presence of police within the community.
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