Police station hours underdone
LEADER of the Opposition Matthew Guy MP called for funding to be reinstated to keep police stations fully operational.
Mr Guy visited Inverloch Police Station last Tuesday (September 12), which was one of the non 24 hour police stations.
With the population set to rise in Bass Coast, and the figures of theft and assault increasing, Mr Guy said he was sick of seeing funds to police stations cut.
“Looking at the number of stations around the state that have closed or had hours reduced under this government, it’s no wonder crime has gone up by 20 per cent since the election of this government when we’ve got few operating police stations,” he said.
“You can have all the new police in the world, but if they don’t anywhere to operate out of, then you will see towns like Inverloch left behind.
“This is a common theme that people are getting sick and tired of, seeing police stations close for business when the government is spending money on Facebook advertising and not putting money into opening and keeping open police stations.”
Minister for Police Lisa Neville said the State Government is working to keep Victorians safe with a boom of police numbers.
“We have provided the biggest boost to police numbers in Victoria’s history. Over the next five years, we will see over 3135 new police, on top of attrition, being added to Victoria Police,” she said.
“As part of the agreement the Government has with The Police Association and Victoria Police, these new police will be distributed according to community needs like crime rates, population growth and also distance in relation to regional communities.
“This will ensure communities right across Victoria, including Inverloch, will have the police they need to keep communities safe.
“Victoria Police continues to provide additional police to the Bass Coast during the peak tourists time to cater for the significant increase in population.”
Mr Guy said the police presence is immensely important during Inverloch’s peak season.
“Closing services when we have three per cent population growth here is crazy policy. It’s not just about the now; it’s about growing in the future. In this population in particular, there are a large number of sea changes. There are new arrivals to this area in a demographic that do require more services, particularly health and policing services, to keep them safe,” he said.
A plaque on the wall at the Inverloch Police Station reads that it was refurbished and reopened by Labor Police Minister Tim Holding under the Brumby Government.
“We saw the Brumby Government planning ahead, and the Andrews Government closing services Brumby put money into,” Mr Guy said.
“It shows the lack of foresight and indeed the poor policy of the Labor Government to shut down a police station it opened barely a decade ago.
“I say again, we have to plan for growth. We need to ease the squeeze of Melbourne by sharing population growth, and we do that by increasing services. Keeping out community safe is vital, and that’s why I don’t want to see police stations close. I want to see Inverloch grow sustainably with the services they need intact.”
Keep Inverloch safe: from left, Leader of the Opposition Matthew Guy MP, Bass MLA Brian Paynter and Inverloch Tourism Association committee member Gary Tayler want to see a fully operational police station in Inverloch.
Short URL: /?p=22674
Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Sep 26 2017. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
