Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are growing concerns about safety around the train stations in my electorate, and I urge all levels of government to work together on this issue to make Brisbane's south side safer. In the past three months alone, 168 offences have been recorded around train stations between Rocklea and Kuraby, with Altandi having the most at 35. Sadly, 27 of these offences were good order offences. Kuraby and Coopers Plains were second and third on the list with 28 and 26 offences respectively, with the offences including theft and drug offences.

I urge our Queensland state government to invest in community consultation to eradicate crime from these areas. During the last two elections, I promised CCTVs to the Sunnybank and Sunnybank Hills shopping centre areas. There is currently CCTV footage provided to police, but we need more police and security patrols. A local resident has suggested a 24-hour security guard, or at least a security guard for when it gets dark and for when there are the most pedestrians. This resident also had the idea of a secure station where a go card is required to enter the station grounds. Other local residents have suggested a public building outlet for our youth to accommodate community strength and to give our local police focus to engage with the youth, which would obviously reduce crime.

This is just the start of a crucial community engagement process, and more activity is required to reduce crime around our train stations. I have made a commitment during previous elections to continue to raise this matter with the local government, with the local councillors and with the state government until a better strategy is provided and there is better safety.