Tuesday, 22 September 2026

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (23:54): (2826) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Police, and the action I seek is for the minister to return Craigieburn police station to 24-hour operation. Craigieburn police station used to operate 24 hours a day. Today Victoria Police list it as a non-24-hour police station, with its current public counter open for just seven hours on Tuesdays and seven hours on Thursdays, from 10 am to 5 pm. This means residents in one of Melbourne’s largest and fastest growing communities have access to the public counter at their local police station for just 14 hours a week. I do not need to tell you again some of the horrific and fatal crimes we have seen take place in Craigieburn over the last few months.

I want to acknowledge the outstanding work our police officers do every single day. A community the size of Craigieburn deserves its own police station that is actually open to the public 24 hours a day. It is particularly important given the serious concern about crime across Hume. As I have previously raised in this place, Crime Statistics Agency figures show total criminal offences in Hume had increased by 28 per cent since September 2023, motor vehicle theft had surged by 82 per cent and prohibited weapons offences had increased by 31 per cent.

Craigieburn is a major metropolitan community servicing tens of thousands of residents not only in Craigieburn but also areas like Roxburgh Park, Greenvale, Mickleham, Kalkallo and Donnybrook. The Liberals and Nationals have committed to recruiting 3000 new police over four years and reopening police stations like Craigieburn, restoring their hours so they can once again have the police presence that they deserve. Residents should be able to walk into their local police station when they need help, whether it is during business hours or whether it is late at night.

The action I seek from the minister is simple: return Craigieburn police station to a 24-hour service so the community can have the level of police it once had. It is not good enough for this Labor government to cut funding for police, which has meant Craigieburn police station has gone from 24 hours a day to 10 am to 5 o’clock on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but for the rest of the time the counter is closed. It shows the community needs to vote Liberal at this election to restore safety in our community.