Thursday, 5 February 2026

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (17:10): (1509) My adjournment is for the Premier, and the action I am seeking is for the Premier to provide the funding and resources required for Boroondara police station to remain open 24 hours a day. Last month reception hours at Boroondara police station were quietly reduced to 10 am to 6 pm. Residents of Kew, like all Victorians, should feel safe in their homes and communities all hours of the day and night, yet that basic expectation is being undermined by police stations that are no longer funded to operate on a 24-hour basis. Under the Allan Labor government dozens of police stations across the state have had their operating hours reduced. The hardworking men and women of Victoria Police are being asked to do more with less. Closing police stations overnight sends the wrong message to both the community and those who work hard to actually protect our community.

Police stations are more than bricks and mortar; they are visible symbols of safety, reassurance and accountability. When a station is open 24 hours, it provides a place of refuge for people in crisis and a point of contact for urgent in-person assistance. The pressure on Victoria Police is already immense. Officers are dealing with increasingly complex and demanding workloads. They are responding to home invasions and robberies. There are family violence and mental health callouts. They are dealing with retail theft, knife crime and serious assaults. Crime rates continue to spike in Victoria, including in the electorate of Kew. Yet despite this, Victoria Police’s own data shows that there are now 367 fewer full-time police officers than when the Premier came to office. More crime, fewer police – that is Victoria under the Premier and Labor.

In Boroondara total offences increased by 20 per cent in the year to September 2025. This included a 26 per cent increase in motor vehicle theft, a 10 per cent increase in home invasions, a 34 per cent increase in residential non-aggravated burglary, a 10 per cent increase in serious assault, an 11 per cent increase in prohibited weapon offences and an 18 per cent increase in retail offences. Expecting police to maintain community safety without adequately funding around-the-clock police stations to operate only compounds these challenges and places further strain on an already stretched police force. We saw the horrible incident in Reservoir earlier this year where a woman sought refuge at a police station only to find it closed under the Labor government in this state. She was pursued to the police station. She was slashed in the arm, and she was refused any assistance at that police station. I ask the Premier to provide the funding required to reopen Boroondara police station 24 hours.