Thursday, 5 February 2026

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (18:58): (2290) My adjournment matter is to the Minister for Police, and the action I seek relates to Reservoir police station in my electorate and not far from his. On 27 December last year, as most Victorians were enjoying their Christmas break, a woman was cut with a knife at Reservoir police station when she sought refuge from an attacker following her in her car. To quote the Herald Sun:

The woman got out of her car at the station, seeking help, and was unable to find any as it was closed and without staff.

What a shocking situation to find yourself in: to seek help from our brave Victoria Police, but instead, thanks to Labor’s budget cuts, find a darkened and locked door. In the words of Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt:

Police stations are a place of refuge. It’s a place where people go in their darkest times …

What makes this situation in Reservoir particularly galling is the sheer waste involved. It was only a few years ago, in 2021, that the government promoted that they had delivered a $15 million, brand new 24-hour police station at Reservoir. It was promised as a major upgrade for the community and even opened at the time in a flashy ceremony attended by then police minister Lisa Neville. Fast-forward just a few years and what do we see? The same $15 million police station has been reduced to an 8-hour shopfront. A facility designed and funded and built to operate 24 hours a day is now open just a fraction of that time. This is classic Labor: fanfare for the opening, but crickets for the closure. My community want more police, not more press releases. The action I seek from the minister is to do what Labor promised, but did not deliver: commit to making Reservoir police station 24 hours so that when my constituents find themselves in danger they are met with a constable, not a closed sign.