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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 1081 asked in the Legislative Council on 28 March 2018 by Hon Martin Aldridge

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Police
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

I refer to the impending decommissioning of the PV Delphinus, and I ask:
(a) how many Western Australia Police (WAPOL) officers and staff will be affected by the decommissioning and what are their respective rank or employment level;
(b) how will these staff be redeployed across the WAPOL or the public service;
(c) what is the expected cost of redeploying these staff;
(d) what WAPOL assets including the PV Delphinus will become redundant as a result of the decommissioning;
(e) how will these assets be disposed of and what is their approximate value;
(f) what will be the annual cost saving to the WAPOL from the closure of the Dampier Water Police base;
(g) how will these funds be reallocated within the WAPOL or across Government;
(h) does the cost savings associated from the closure of the Dampier Water Police simply meet Government requirements to reduce expenditure across the public service;
(i) in the last two financial years what has been the cost of maintaining the PV Deplhinus and on how many occasions has it been unavailable for service;
(j) did the WAPOL make a budget submission for a replacement vessel to the PV Deplhinus;
(k) if yes to (j), what was the requested funding sought for a replacement vessel;
(l) with the decommissioning of the PV Delphinus, what will be the next closest Water Police base available to service Western Australia's northern waters;
(m) will extra resources be provided to the Police Air Wing as a result of the decommissioning of the PV Delphinus to provide further surveillance and operational capacity;
(n) who undertook the review of the 'current security environment' upon which this decision is based;
(o) for the last two financial years, and this financial year to date, please provide statistics on the number of responses and operations undertaken by the PV Delphinus by response category;
(p) what discussions have occurred with the Commonwealth Government in relation to the closure of Dampier Water Police and by whom; and
(q) what consultation has occurred prior to making the decision with Local Government Authorities, Volunteer Sea Search and Rescue Groups, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries), Department of Transport (Marine), Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (Parks and Wildlife Service) among other agencies who have maritime responsibility?

Answered on 16 May 2018

(a-q)    The Western Australia Police Force made the decision to close the North West Water Police and decommission the Delphinus based on changes to the threat assessment to key assets, and the superiority of the existing WA Police Force Air Wing in patrolling the vast north-west coastline of WA. The national threat assessment is developed by national security agencies, and reviewed by the WA Police Force for local application. The North West Water Police employed five full time employees at the ranks of one Sergeant and four Constables. The transfer to other positions within The Western Australia Police Force is at no extra cost. The allocations of resources previously assigned to the North West Water Police are under consideration by the WA Police Force, however, there are no additional asset redundancies, and specific police equipment within the PV Delphinus will be re-used across the current fleet of vessels. The recurrent cost for North West Water Police is $632 602 p.a., including annual operating budget, vehicle lease, GROH costs and other employee costs, not including maintenance costs and expected capital expenditure. Maintenance costs for the previous two years were $486 806.17, with the vessel spending 53% of the time docked, 25% undergoing maintenance, and 22% deployed. A 2016 WA Police Force budget submission estimated that replacement would cost $8.6 million. The next closest similar asset is the existing WA Police Force Air Wing, based at Karratha Airport, with the next water police unit at North Fremantle. Since the 2015/16 financial year, the Delphinus has engaged in twenty eight operations. These are six patrols in 2015/16, nine patrols in 2016/17, and five patrols so far in 2017/18. Further, there have been three marine search and rescues in 2015/16, and one more in 2016/17. There were four joint operations with Border Force, consisting of one in 2015/16, one in 2016/17, and two in 2017/18. The Hon Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Home Affairs; Minister for Immigration and Border Protection has thanked the WA Police Force for its support of the Australian Border Force (ABF) and advised that the ABF, through Maritime Border Command, remains committed to continuing to work closely and collaborate with the WA Police Force in the North West of Western Australia. Regarding consultation, the WA Police Force advised that it did not undertake consultation prior to the decision, however stakeholders were advised following the decision.