Page 254 - Week 01 - Thursday, 14 February 2008
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Assembly building. Similar to the earlier part of your question, I will follow that up with the relevant people in the Secretariat and will have a complete answer for you to consider in due course.
ACT Policing—numbers
MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Minister, yesterday in this place you said, and I quote:
… once you say something it does not mean that it is always true forever and a day.
Minister, in relation to policing numbers, you said in the Assembly yesterday that for ACT Policing since 2004 the net increase is 107 extra officers. Minister, on ABC Radio on 28 January this year, the Acting Minister for Police and Emergency Services said:
Over the last three years, we’ve employed an additional 120 police within the ACT … These are extra police … this is 120 extra police.
Minister, how many sworn police officers are there in ACT Policing?
MR CORBELL: 690.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Smyth.
MR SMYTH: Minister, what confidence can the community have in its government if it provides information that is not always true?
Mr Corbell: Can you repeat the question?
MR SMYTH: Minister, based on your quote yesterday, what confidence can the Canberra community have in this government if it provides information that is not always true?
MR CORBELL: That is not what I said yesterday, Mr Speaker. Again, the opposition seem to be failing to grasp the fairly fundamental concept, which is that you make decisions based on the information you have before you. If that information changes subsequent to that decision, obviously your decisions may change. It is not a difficult concept to grasp.
But, Mr Speaker, perhaps it is worthwhile providing some further advice to Mr Smyth in relation to the police numbers question that he seems so interested in. In response to a question that I took on notice yesterday, I am very pleased to advise Mr Smyth that the net increase of ACT Policing positions funded by the Labor government since it came to government in October 2001, and delivered its first budget in 2002, is 122 extra funded positions, the final 10 of which, while funded in a previous budget, are due to come on stream at the commencement of the 2008-09 financial year.
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