Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I joined the WA Police Force in 2006. For more than 15 years I served communities from Eucla to Karratha and back to Perth. My last position with the WA Police Force was working in the community engagement division. Engaging with the community I serve has always been important to me. I want our community to be safe. I want people in our community to have safe places. For police officers, engaging with our youth is also vital. When I was a police officer, I saw how initiatives such as the Police and Community Youth Centres, PCYC, and the Police Rangers program in secondary schools helped to form fellowship and positive relationships with young people. This helped to reduce crime. There are many community programs that make a difference. The Willetton Youth Centre in my electorate of Tangney helps to make young people feel safe, connected and welcome. The centre provides opportunities for youth to make connections, communicate and feel valued. I saw them learning new skills like music and martial arts.

When I engaged with anyone in our community, it was vital that I acted with the highest integrity. As a police officer, I wanted members of the community to trust me. Trust is so important, as it is a part of safety. I'm very proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, which acts with integrity. The former Safer Communities Fund has been discredited due to the rorting of public funding by the previous government. The Auditor-General found that the grants under this program were only 'partly effective and partly consistent with the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines' and that 'funding decisions were not appropriately informed by departmental briefings'. This is not acting with integrity. The Albanese Labor government's grants are based on merits, they are transparent and they exist to meet the needs of our local communities.

Community safety is a priority for the Albanese government. Since October 2022 the government has committed more than $182 million from the Attorney-General's portfolio to improve community safety and security across Australia through community based crime prevention and justice reinvestment initiatives—for example, the Securing Faith-Based Places grants to improve security at religious schools and preschools, places of worship and faith based community centres. Last month I had the opportunity to visit the Chinese Presbyterian Church in Tangney, one of the recipients of the Securing Faith-Based Places grants. The leader of the church told me how they appreciated the opportunity to improve their safety and security. It must also be said that this grant was awarded through an open, competitive and merit based process.

As a former police officer, I also believe in the value of working together. In 2023, my colleague, the Attorney-General, the Hon. Mark Dreyfus KC, MP, re-established the Police Ministers Council. The former government disbanded the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management. The Police Ministers Council brings together all police ministers from every state and territory, as well as the Australian Attorney-General, to coordinate and collaborate on a national level.

This forum was critical in progressing work on a national firearms register. This led to a National Cabinet landmark agreement in December 2023 to implement a national firearms register. This is the most significant improvement to the Australian firearm registry management system in almost 30 years. This will help keep our community and our police officers safer, and the involvement of all police ministers and police commissioners was critical to achieving this outcome. Integrity, trust and transparency will work together to achieve real outcomes. These are the values I held close as a police officer and, now, as your member of parliament. I'm proud to share these values— (Time expired)

See this speech in context