David Fawcett (Wakefield, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to briefly speak on the Crimes Act Amendment (Forensic Procedures) Bill (No. 1) 2006. As speakers have previously outlined, the purpose of this bill is simple enough: to ensure that interjurisdictional DNA profile matching using the National Criminal Investigation DNA Database, or the NCIDD, can be implemented across all of the jurisdictions in Australia rather than having disparate systems between the Australian government and the various state and territory governments. The principal features of this will be expanding the access of the state and territory officials to the NCIDD, aligning the permissible matching of DNA profiles under the Commonwealth legislation with these other jurisdictions and clarifying that ministerial arrangements can also deal with the transmission of information to and from the database.

My teenage children tell me that DNA is a vital thing these days—they see it so much on TV. It is interesting to note that a quick search in the media shows that there is quite a bit of information in the public arena about cases that are being solved, current cases and even old cases, here in Australia. In the Glebe morgue, for example, there are literally boxes and boxes of bones from people that have been found, and they are now trying to match them with the 400 long-term missing persons in New South Wales. In Western Australia they are even using DNA to try and track down stolen sheep, which is perhaps something that was not envisaged.

More importantly in terms of the power of this tool for policing and solving crime, reports out of the UK talking about new techniques to recover quite poor quality DNA samples are predicting that they will have a 15 per cent increase in closure rates in cases with these new DNA techniques. The agencies there are dealing with some 130,000 cases every year using DNA profile testing.

I would like to move on from that, though, and talk about why this is important in the community. In almost every survey that I send out in the electorate of Wakefield or when I have community information stands in the shopping centres in Elizabeth, Craigmore and Munno Para, the consistent theme that comes back from the electors and the people of Wakefield is that they are concerned by the levels of crime in their community. They are looking for leadership and action from the government. They do not particularly care what level of government, but what they want to see is things to make them safer in their community and in their homes.

It is interesting to note that just today Adelaide’s paper, The Advertiser, has an article talking about a shortage of experienced police officers affecting the force’s ability to investigate crimes. It says that the retention of officers with experience is even more important than the recent round trying to recruit new officers from overseas.

What the public expect to see is consistency from government in their approach to policing. That is why it was disappointing earlier this year to see that the state government were starting to talk about a three per cent to four per cent cut of some $20 million to the police budget as part of their well-overdue state budget. In the end that did not eventuate, but there was a significant period of uncertainty, which is of great concern to the electors of Wakefield, particularly if we look at some of the statistics on crime rates. Despite boasts about falling crime rates, in figures that have been prepared by the Office of Crime Statistics and Research, you can see that between 2001 and 2005 in South Australia sexual offences increased by 8.8 per cent, offences against good order increased by 19.2 per cent and driving offences increased by 31.3 per cent. There has also been information around about the fact that the reporting of many of the statistics has been changed to put a more positive spin on them. But the fact that people continue to tell me that their biggest concerns are crime and safety in their home says that these are something that all levels of government need to be working together on.

In that regard, it was disappointing to see that one of the first things the state Labor government did when they came to power was scrap the Crime Prevention Program, which was a very successful program implemented by the previous government. I am glad to see that, from an Australian government perspective, we have continued and in fact expanded our National Community Crime Prevention Program. I was very pleased just recently to go to one of the local primary schools in Elizabeth, along with an organisation called Good Beginnings, to announce a $498,000 program under the Community Crime Prevention Program to look at early intervention with families to keep kids connected with families and learning so that we reduce the likelihood of people becoming involved in crime.

From a federal perspective, we have also maintained the very successful Tough on Drugs program, which has seen a large fall in hard drugs like heroin, and a large awareness program for people. Anyone that you talk to about crime will very quickly make the link between the use of drugs in our community and criminal activity. Likewise, I notice that, in our spending on police at a federal level, the Federal Police budget has gone from $192 million when we came to office to over $816 million this year. It shows the clear leadership that this government is looking to have in providing security and safety for our people.

So there are a range of areas of concern—hoon driving, drugs, speeding and safety in the home—but prevention is probably one of the most important things. It is notable that this government is again trying to take the lead, even in things like the family relationship centres, which are trying to build stronger families and which have the flow-on effect of providing the sort of environment that our young people need to steer them away from the involvement in drugs and crime that leads to some of these statistics later in life.

I support this bill because it is yet another example of the cooperation that needs to exist between levels of government and of leadership from the Commonwealth government in making sure we have processes that give our police forces at whichever level every tool that they need to successfully prosecute crime and make communities around Australia, and particularly in the electorate of Wakefield, safer.

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