Thursday, 20 March 2025

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:52): (1493) The community will be very aware of the Crime Statistics Agency figures today, with residential aggravated burglaries up 34 per cent – that is 20 aggravated burglaries per day; motor vehicle theft up 41 per cent – nearly 80 cars stolen a day; theft from motor cars has risen by 33 per cent; and stealing from retail stores has skyrocketed by 37 per cent. Those are the figures released today. In my electorate of Southern Metropolitan I am aware of the failure of the government to provide proper policing. Indeed police have been stripped out of a number of police stations in my election – Camberwell, South Melbourne, Caulfield and Prahran, to name a number. I have a freedom-of-information request that shows the fall in the number of active police on the rosters. My request today is: will the Minister for Police restore the rosters in Southern Metropolitan Region so that the crime can be prevented?