Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Crime is a concern for residents in my electorate of Swan, and we are in the crime belt of the suburban area of Perth. I have spoken before about a recent spike in crime in parts of my electorate, and of how the state Labor government has taken its eye off the ball on crime and has actually cut the police budget.

Today I want to speak about this issue in the suburb of Karawara. I've been receiving correspondence about the issue from my constituents in Karawara, and one resident recently wrote to me and said:

Yesterday afternoon our street (Kwel Court) was turned into a crime scene. There was a fight between a Meth affected person (from one of the housing Authority units) and one of our neighbours. This particular person was picking a fight with everyone he sees. It eventuated into a bloody scene, and there were still pools of blood on our street this morning.

Another resident has separately written to me about ongoing issues that his family has been facing. He said:

My family, as well as neighbours, are extremely worried … with deep feelings of insecurity for last several months. I am writing this in reference to continuous harassment with break-in attempts to my residence unit from some unsocial elements. These unknown people keep damaging my fence and trying to get into my place illegally during the dark night every now and then. Banging and bursting my backyard fence is becoming a normal routine practice for them. These have been done at least 8 to 10 times in last few months.

These examples reflect the concern of residents about crime issues in the Karawara area, many of which, according to residents, seem to be associated with a small number of social housing properties. I know the local senior sergeant of Kensington police is aware of the issues, and he has organised raids on a number of addresses recently. However, concerns remain.

So some of the residents of Karawara have provided a petition to the City of South Perth for CCTV cameras in the Karawara gardens area, to assist in catching offenders and to help residents to again use the area safely. I commend the residents for their petition and will support them in their push for more CCTV in the area. Petitioners have said that they rarely feel able to use the Karawara gardens due to the frequent antisocial behaviour.

I note that the coalition has a strong commitment to crime prevention infrastructure under the Safer Communities program, and I'll work to support the Karawara residents and the City of South Perth to progress an application to the Safer Communities Fund. The Safer Communities Fund delivers on the federal Liberal government's ongoing commitment to keeping Australians safe and secure. In previous federal funding rounds, we have secured funding for CCTV cameras at Belmont Forum, CCTV cameras at Abernethy junction commercial precinct, lighting upgrades in the neighbouring town of Victoria Park, and 70 CCTV cameras at the new Belmont community centre.