Premier Roger Cook is sleepwalking through WA’s worst-ever crime wave.
Crime is out of control in our State. Eight years of woke Labor Government policies concerned more with protecting the rights of criminals than preventing crime and caring for victims means women in WA are now the most likely of any State to be killed in a family and domestic violence incident.
Many regional communities are living under virtual lockdown at night as violent gangs of youths run the streets. Despite repeated commitments, WA Labor has failed to bolster police numbers proportionate to population growth, leaving WA with fewer officers per capita than when Labor took office nearly eight years ago
How did this happen? It happened because WA Labor sat on its hands and did nothing for eight years.
Labor has steadfastly refused to tighten bail restrictions on violent offenders, is ideologically opposed to minimum mandatory sentencing laws, failed to implement electronic monitoring laws, and went to war with police over wages and conditions, destroying police morale, leading to a record number of senior officers leaving the force.
Our police force is being asked to do more while it is about 460 officers undermanned.
A WA Liberal government would begin turning around the decline in police numbers on day one in office, with a $218.4 million commitment to allow 3000 officers to undertake an additional eight hours of overtime a fortnight.
This will immediately put the equivalent of an additional 300 frontline officers on the beat.
Officers participating in this initiative have the potential to earn an additional $18,200 a year, offering a meaningful financial incentive for those willing to serve extra hours in support of community safety. While our overtime policy will immediately increase police numbers, WA Liberals have also committed an additional $134.4 million to recruit 500 police officers over four years.
The Liberals also have a $110 million commitment to provide incentives for officers to build long-term careers in the force. Officers will receive an additional 2 per cent superannuation contribution after five years of service with a further 3 per cent added after 10 years, bringing the total increase to 5 per cent for those who serve a decade or more.
For 10-year officers this initiative will raise their superannuation from its current 11.5 per cent to 16.5 per cent. For a 45-year-old officer with a current superannuation balance of $150,000, this increase could add an additional $155,000 to their retirement nest egg if they remain in the force until retirement age.
Premier Cook’s announcement yesterday of $14.5 million to “crack down on violent young offenders” was little more than a word salad.
The Premier’s promise of a fast-track trial for young offenders seems unachievable given our judiciary is already struggling to process the backlog of cases in courts across the State.
His promise to divert young offenders into rehabilitation programs, without a corresponding announcement of additional resources for those already stretched services, amounts to absolutely nothing.
But perhaps the most meaningless of the Premier’s promises was that violent young offenders would be “subject to curfew” and “monitored using the latest technology”. Has the Premier really forgotten the horrific incident police say occurred last month when registered sex offender Mark Anthony Unchango allegedly followed a woman from a train station, dragged her into the bushes and violently raped her?
Unchango had been released from prison on a supervision order just one month before, after serving a sentence for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old. A supervision order — which can include monitoring and a curfew — is put in place when a prisoner becomes eligible for parole, but the parole board believes the prisoner is still a danger to the public. Sound familiar?
The Premier has, so far, stubbornly refused to reveal what supervision was ordered and where it failed.
We’re waiting Premier.
