POLICE — WAGES POLICY
71. Hon CHARLES SMITH to the minister representing the
Minister for Police:
I refer to a recent statement by the
WA Police Union that it had presented its members with the state government's
final offer in an attempt to resolve the long-running pay dispute.
(1) Does the
state government recognise that a fair pay rise and improved conditions are
vital to attracting and retaining police officers?
(2) Does the
state government plan to change its state wages policy and again leave police
officers out in the cold like it did in 2017?
(3) Why has the state government done nothing over the
last three years to improve the state's police-to-population
ratio?
(4) Does the
state government concede that the failure to adequately resource and remunerate
the police is placing community safety at risk?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Minister for Police; Road Safety.
(1) Yes.
(2) The question should be referred
to the Minister for Industrial Relations.
(3) The government has increased the number of police
officers and the police-to-population ratio has improved. There were 153
more officers in November 2019 than in February 2017.
(4) No.