Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Swan for that question. I acknowledge the deep interest that he takes in the security of his constituents. The several times that I have been able to go to his electorate he has explained to me the priorities that he has for making sure that his constituents are as safe as possible.

Those on this side of the House are deeply committed to doing all we can to assist with local policing and making sure that our streets are secure. That is why since we have arrived in government we have allocated $50 million from the proceeds of crime for upgrades of local security infrastructure, such as the CCTV cameras that we promised prior to the last election in the member's electorate.

I am very pleased to be able to update him that, even though we promised four cameras, as a result of our $100,000 commitment, we will be able to install a further 12 cameras for a total of 16 for the same amount of money. This means that his constituents, particularly around the Belmont city centre, will have the benefit of a very significant investment from the federal government. I know that the member for Swan has discussed these issues with local police within his electorate. Of course, the Western Australian police are very supportive of this investment that we at a federal level are making to assist them to do this job.

The $50 million we have allocated from proceeds of crime would never have happened had the government not changed, because the previous administration refused to spend proceeds-of-crime money. They took that money and they allocated it towards their dodgy budget bottom line and refused to invest it in crime prevention programs in the way we have done since coming to office.

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