Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In this House on Monday, during the grievance debate, I raised an issue about crime and law and order in my community. I raised the fact that 829 days ago at a community meeting in the Tilligerry the state Labor member for Port Stephens told the community that the crime, the violence and the terrorist activities by the youth in the streets was their problem. I highlighted that in this House. The media have reported it.

But what I need to report to the House now is what the Labor member has said today. In an article by Jacqui Jones in the Newcastle Herald, he said that the issue is a social issue, not necessarily a straight-out policing problem. But if you do not have the police on the ground to curb this violence so that the people in our communities can feel safe, then, I have to say, those with a desire to disrupt their community will continue.

Tonight, right now, as I am making this speech, there is a community meeting being held at the Tanilba golf club, where people are coming to express their concerns about the crime, the violence and the vandalism in their community. Tonight, Mike Gallagher, the New South Wales opposition police spokesman; Craig Baumann, the Liberal candidate for Port Stephens; the mayor, Ron Swan; and other members of the community are talking to the community about their concerns. It is no good fobbing off these issues as being somebody else’s fault. The community is sick and tired of being told that the vandalism, the violence and the destruction is their fault. It is the fault of the state government for its inactivity about providing a police presence. They have taken away the 24-hour police presence. They have removed the policemen from the area and moved them into other areas. Our policemen are some of the best in Australia but, without the resources and the support, they can do very little.

In my speech on Monday, I also raised the issue of the Muree Golf Club being hit five times, four of those times in the last 2½ months. In an article today in the Daily Telegraph, Gary Solly, the club president, says he has ‘had a gutful’. Not only he has had a gutful; every member of that community who pays insurance, or pays the price for the wanton, violent and destructive actions of the youth in that area, has had a gutful. This is terrorism in the Tilligerry. People in my community do not feel safe to go out in the streets not only at night but also in the daytime. They do not feel safe in their own homes anymore because this vandalism is brought right up to their front doors: their letterboxes are smashed in, their cars are damaged.

People predominantly come to our area to retire. If you are going to retire in a community, you want to feel safe in that community. So, when people hear the state Labor government, their elected representatives, say for the second time in 829 days of inactivity that it is their problem, there is a huge problem. It is a huge problem for our community when elected representatives do not take forward the message to their elected officials. Their police minister has been absolutely invisible and absent in addressing the concerns of this community.

Enough is enough. It can end today—not tomorrow, not after the next election, but today—if the state Labor government has the will to do so. But there is not, because there is no determination, direction or drive from the state Labor member. There is not a word from the state Labor candidate. But Mike Gallagher has been up there, he has met with the community, he is listening to their concerns and he is supported by Craig Baumann, the former mayor. They understand that people want to feel safe in their homes. They do not want their property destroyed, they do not want their community disrupted; they want safety. It is about time the state Labor government listened to the people in this area, addressed their concerns and provided the necessary police presence so that they can go on with their lives. I demand that action be taken, and I demand that it be taken now.