Tuesday, 17 March 2026

 Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (19:06): (1581) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Police, and the action that I seek is for the minister to adequately resource the Mooroopna police station. The Mooroopna station is rarely open, leaving the residents frustrated and vulnerable when it comes to crime. The $1.8 million police station was built back in 2013 by the then Coalition government. It was built because Mooroopna needed a police station. West of Shepparton, Mooroopna has a population of over 8000 residents. Based on Victoria’s own policing ratios, that represents the need for around 25 officers serving the community. There are no regular opening hours, and Mooroopna residents question whether it is open at all. My region is significantly neglected when it comes to our police stations, and I have called on the minister numerous times to also provide more support to the Shepparton police station, which is a 24-hour station. Seventy-five per cent of the Shepparton police’s time is taken up with dealing with domestic violence incidents, taking them off the street, unable to get to call-outs. The minister has been asked for a dedicated family violence response team to be located at the Shepparton station. This would require six extra officers and two sergeants. Breach of family violence orders now sits as the number one crime in Shepparton. There is an expectation that the Shepparton police will cover Mooroopna, but it is clear that Shepparton police station is already significantly under-resourced and struggling to get to local police matters, let alone cover another 8000 Mooroopna residents. In February Mooroopna had two shops in their main street torched and several rammed. Across the electorate we have seen increasing crime, car thefts, retail theft and burglaries. Communities deserve to feel safe and to have their police stations open with police presence.