Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today the state Liberal Party of Western Australia made an election commitment to build a new police station in Ballajura. I welcome and in fact applaud that decision. In 2009, when the commissioner of police identified that the existing station at the time, opened by the previous Liberal government in Western Australia, was to be closed, I wrote to the police minister opposing that decision. I am therefore pleased that a new station is to be built at a cost of $12.5 million within three years.

I note that the police commissioner, at the time of the closure, and now the new Minister for Police, Minister Harvey, have described the previous shopfront of the local shopping centre as being 'an occupational health and safety nightmare' and said that there was no choice but to close it. Having visited that shopfront on many occasions, I agree that it was not a great example of an effective environment for police operations and that the new station built for general policing and criminal investigations and operations will be a better result.

The new station is to be completed in 2015-16. It will cater for 21 police officers, who will use it on a 24-hour basis. It will include holding cells, modern fingerprinting facilities and secure parking. As I said, I welcome this commitment and the fact that it is a fully costed proposal and therefore Ballajura residents can have confidence that it will be built.

From my recent doorknock in Ballajura with Liberal candidates Natasha Cheung for West Swan and Andrea Creado for Mirrabooka, I know that there are drug dealers that operate in Ballajura and that there are burglars living in and around that suburb. It is worthwhile to make the point that a police station is not a cure for crime. The police still require the people to be witnesses and to stand up to these criminals so that they go to jail and are accountable for their actions. I also appreciate the great focus that the state government of Western Australia has on fighting crime. This includes additional resources for closed-circuit television and minimum jail terms for aggravated burglaries.

I welcome 7½-year jail terms for offenders who seriously assault someone whilst breaking into their house. I also welcome 15-year sentences for those who break in and sexually assault someone. I also believe that it is good for juveniles aged 16 and above to face a minimum detention period of three years for either of these sorts of offences.

I have said before that law-abiding people believe the police do a good job under very difficult circumstances, but, when cases go to court, the outcomes for convicted offenders are not what the general community would consider appropriate. It is therefore right that community expectations are provided by the people's representatives in terms of minimum sentences. It is also right that, when people in the future look at the incarceration rate of particular demographic groups, the point should not be outrage at the figure of those in jail but outrage as to why so many are criminals. It is about personal responsibility for the choices one makes. If someone makes a decision to be a criminal, then the Liberal state government of WA will hold them to account.

I also pay tribute to the candidate Natasha Cheung, who lives locally, for her fight for the police station and for her listening to the concerns of local people in terms of securing penalties appropriate for criminal behaviour.