ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR —
REGIONAL WESTERN AUSTRALIA
1343. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the minister representing the
Minister for Police:
I refer to an article published
today by Erin Parke of ABC Kimberley, the headline of which reads ''Broome
car theft spree leaves a trail of torched
vehicles with residents, tourists demanding action''. This article comes
after 40 cars have been stolen in 30
days. I also refer to my question without notice 1300, which asked whether the
minister intended on meeting Broome residents, to which I got a poor
response, so I again ask the following.
(1) Can the minister confirm whether she is arranging
to meet the shire and the residents of the town to address the issue?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
(3) If yes to (1), when will the
meeting be held?
(4) Does the McGowan government have any plans to
change its failing policy to address antisocial behaviour in regional
towns?
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.
(1)–(4) The
Western Australia Police Force advises that senior police will attend the
meeting organised by the shire. Broome police continue to target crime hotspots
and respond to any reports of suspicious behaviour or crime. This explicitly includes the stealing of motor vehicles as a priority
offence. Measures are in place to target suspected offenders and
offending, which includes the rollout of new technology. Youth crime issues
remain a priority for Broome police and every opportunity is taken to break the
cycle of crime committed by young persons, including in partnership with other
agencies.
Under the McGowan government, there
are 120 more officers in regional WA compared with what there was under the
previous Liberal–National government. The McGowan government has also
committed, and put funding on budget, to recruit an additional 800 police
officers. Ninety-eight of the first 200 of these officers will be deployed to
regional WA. The latest police crime statistics, published on the Western Australia
Police Force website, show crime in regional WA was down 30.2 per cent on the
same quarter last year.