MP Tim Pallas responds to Cr Gupta’s intervention on rising crime in Wyndham
The story referring in the previous edition of The Indian Sun (“Missing in Action: Councillor calls on State Government to address crime”) overlooks a number of key facts.
Since we came to power in November 2014, the Labor Government has funded 1156 police personnel to keep Victorians safe, including the recruitment of 400 custody officers to guard prisoners and get police officers back on the beat.
While our opponents talk tough on law and order, the reality is very different. The Coalition in their 4 year term of government, failed to fund a single additional police officer. In fact, every additional sworn police officer in the last 15 years has been funded by a Labor Government.
The Government is well aware of the issues facing communities in Wyndham and Melbourne’s West, which is why police numbers have continued to increase under this Government—including frontline police in Wyndham.
Soon an additional 300 frontline police will be recruited, trained and deployed to growth areas. The Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has stated that the western suburbs will receive additional officers as part of that roll-out.
Just this week the Andrews Government acted to create tough new stand-alone offences for aggravated carjacking and aggravated home invasions.
Recent taskforces such as Operation Cosmas and Operation Prevalent have been setup to address precisely these issues, with officers making 130 arrests since the Operations commenced. The Government takes community safety incredibly seriously and has invested in a corresponding manner.
Crime is complex and the causes of which are multi-faceted, that’s why we have multi-faceted solutions to address this. We’re not only investing in more police, we’re also investing in smarter policing.
On a recent visit to Werribee Police Station, Premier Daniel Andrews joined Minister for Police Lisa Neville and Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton to announce the tender process for Victoria Police’s technology revolution.
The Andrews Labor Government invested $227 million in police technology, to help free up our frontline police so they’re spending less time on administrative duties, and more time fighting crime in our communities.
It is ironic that the photograph published in this newspaper, was taken at the launch of the Lighting Station Place project, an excellent crime prevention initiative made possible by the Andrews Labor Government through our $5.8m Public Safety Infrastructure Fund.
The reality is that crime rates and community policing responses do not occur or abate overnight. They reflect long term patterns of investment and social issues.
Responsible politicians and community leaders should not seek to make cheap political gains through inciting fear and making cheap attacks. We owe it to our community to do more than that.
Our community doesn’t want catchphrases or political posturing. They want action. They want a real response that will deliver long term progress and that is exactly what we’re getting on with and delivering.
MP Tim Pallas Member for Werribee, Treasurer of Victoria
Photo credit: Facebook
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