Tuesday, 28 May 2024

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (12:59): I rise to thank the Narre Warren police, who came out and ran a community forum, for what they did, and spoke to our local community, in particular Inspector Stuart Richards and obviously the entire team at Narre Warren and Dandenong, who came down and spoke to the local community about some of the issues that have been raised by members within the Berwick electorate about crime throughout our local area. Many have raised the issue of the delay in the Clyde North police station, which has still failed to be delivered for our community out in Clyde North. One of the other things is the issue around the increase in aggravated burglaries and violent crimes particularly. Many in the community have raised concerns around access to weapons, particularly machetes, through all of the state, but also through our community we have seen an increase in aggravated burglaries. Many communities are concerned about their safety not just in the street but also in their homes. We have seen an increase: we have become number two in the state for the number of aggravated burglaries that have occurred in Victoria. When you condense that down in Berwick and you put it into one of the smaller areas, down through Alira estate and through some parts of our community, they are the ones that are genuinely concerned because of the level of aggravated burglaries that have occurred through those areas. But I want to thank the police for coming out and speaking to the community. It is very important, that engagement. And to Stuart and his team: I want to thank each and every one of them for taking the time to explain the crime figures and explain the work that they do. They just need the extra resources to deliver the services correctly.