Thursday, 13 August 2026

Questions without notice and ministers statements

Ministers statements: police resources

Paul EDBROOKE
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Ministers statements: police resources

 Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston – Minister for Police, Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:11): This morning I was proud to stand alongside the Premier and the Chief Commissioner of Police to announce that the Carroll Labor government is giving Victoria Police the resources it needs to fight crime. We will recruit an additional 150 protective services officers, taking the total to 200 new PSOs – every one of them funded, every one of them real. We are also extending Operation Pulse till the end of next year – Operation Pulse has already delivered more than 1700 arrests and 3500 charges – because on this side of the chamber we take the safety of Victorians seriously, and we will always back Victoria Police by giving them the powers they need to keep Victorians safe. That is why we will also change the regulations so that PSOs can patrol more shopping centres and local shopping strips, the precincts at the heart of every Victorian community – more police, more PSOs, more places, more often.

Now contrast that with the sad lot opposite. They promised PSOs for hospitals, but they forgot to ask anyone if that was actually a good idea. They promised PSOs for shopping centres, and then they cut that and they promised the same PSOs somewhere else, because every promise they make carries the same asterisk: $40 billion in cuts. You cannot fund police while you are cutting $40 billion. Only the Carroll Labor –

James Newbury: Deputy Speaker, I renew my earlier point of order.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: And I renew my counsel – thank you, member for Brighton – that ministers statements, as our former Speaker Brooks eloquently said, are not used for attacking the opposition. Come back without doing that, please.

Paul EDBROOKE: I love Speaker Brooks. Maybe the member for Brighton needs a Moccona. Only the Carroll Labor government will give Victoria Police, the biggest force in the nation, the powers, the funding and the support they need to keep every Victorian safe.
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