South-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:53): (759) My question is to the Minister for Police. Minister, in February I asked in this Parliament what safety assurances could be given to the community with the recent announcement that Victoria Police were being forced to cut down station opening hours in the evenings and in the so-called quieter periods at 43 police stations, of which seven are in my electorate in the south-east. The response was that the community can be assured that police will be where they are most needed when they are most needed and that this would be with a 24-hour police response. Minister, can you explain why, then, when one of my staff called a police station in my electorate at 4:34 pm on 14 March 2024 the phone was not answered – and in fact the phone rang out. Can you also, if this was due to the cut-downs, tell my constituents, my staff and me how long this cut-down in hours is going to last for, because crime – (Time expired)