COVID-19
Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (11:18): My question is to the Leader of the Government. The Chief Commissioner of Police described COVID-19 enforcement as ‘the biggest game in town’. Given the increase in family violence during lockdowns and the importance of eradicating family violence, are the chief commissioner’s comments consistent with government policy?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (11:19): Ms Crozier, I think that is a really unfair question. The police do a fantastic job in enforcing the health orders and dealing with the issues that are a result of the pandemic and the measures that are designed to keep Victorians safe. We have operations, obviously, up at the border, operations enforcing issues around Melbourne and peri-urban areas, and indeed police are helping with hotel quarantine, all to keep Victorians safe. To suggest that they are shifting focus from their core work of supporting victims of family violence is an unfair characterisation in your question, and to suggest that government policy shifts around to the detriment of victims of family violence is just outrageous.
A bit like my comments to Mr Hayes’s question in relation to the efforts and dedication of our health professionals, I thank our hardworking police officers. Their job is to protect Victorians, promote community safety and respond to all crime, and indeed they continue to do so. We have heard from Victoria Police that there have been increases in family violence, and the reason we know that is that they are responding to these issues. So I again put on record my admiration for the hardworking police force of this state.
Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (11:20): Thank you, Attorney. That was an interesting response. The chief commissioner also told 3AW yesterday that 1600 police officers were busy enforcing COVID rules—some you mentioned, but there are others, like outdoor masks and banning children from playgrounds. Is the leader concerned that booze and drug tests are down 80 to 90 per cent this financial year, with the potential for those that are drug or alcohol affected on our roads and in the community to cause harm?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (11:21): The question was directed to me as leader. I do not have responsibility for police, and I do not have responsibility, therefore, for alcohol- and drug-testing operations that police conduct. These are also operational matters for police. But I would make the point that due to restrictions there are a lot less people on the road, so I would probably hazard a guess that police command are not perhaps setting up some of their operations, because there would not be many people to indeed deal with with the booze buses, for example. However, police are still out and about on the beat and enforcing—
Dr Bach: Tearing children off slides.
Ms SYMES: You have seen police officers pull children from slides, have you? That is what you have seen. That is the allegation that you have made. You have seen police drag children. This is the—
Members interjecting.
Ms SYMES: The comments against our Victoria Police officers from those opposite are horrible. They are— (Time expired)