Tuesday, 18 February 2025

Victoria Police

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:11): My question is to the Minister for Police. Was the government’s direction to Victoria Police to find over $1 billion in cuts in its budget one of the minister’s policies from his bottom drawer –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Eureka can leave the chamber for an hour.

Member for Eureka withdrew from chamber.

David SOUTHWICK: My question is to the Minister for Police. Was the government’s direction to Victoria Police to find over $1 billion in cuts in its budget one of the minister’s policies from his bottom drawer or just a consequence of Labor’s mismanaged budget?

Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Minister for Police, Minister for Community Safety, Minister for Victims, Minister for Racing) (14:13): I thank the adjunct professor, the member for Caulfield, for his question.

The SPEAKER: Refer to members by their correct titles, Minister. I have already addressed that.

Anthony CARBINES: I thank the member for Caulfield for his question. $4.5 billion in additional investment – that is what our government have provided to Victoria Police since we came to office. I totally reject the premise of the question from the member for Caulfield. Amongst that funding is a billion dollars for capital works for Victoria Police since we came to office. That includes the new Benalla station, which is soon to open, and the recent announcement of work at Point Cook.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, it was a very narrow question. Was the $1 billion of cuts from the minister’s bottom drawer? I ask you to get him to come back to answering that very narrow question.

The SPEAKER: I remind the Manager of Opposition Business that points of order are not an opportunity to repeat the question. I would ask the Leader of the House to be succinct on the point of order.

Mary-Anne Thomas: Speaker, there is no point of order. If the Manager of Opposition Business had been listening, she would have noted that the Minister for Police rejected the premise of the question, and I ask that you allow him to continue.

The SPEAKER: I do not uphold the point of order.

Anthony CARBINES: Again, in rejecting the premise of the question, a false assertion from the member for Caulfield, there has been $1 billion in capital works from our government to Victoria Police since we came to office. The Clyde North police station is very popular with the member for Cranbourne and the member for Bass. We have also got the Narre Warren police station work that is underway. Point Cook, South Melbourne –

David Southwick: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, this is not about what the government has done in the past but what the government intends to do in the future with a billion dollars of cuts. I ask you to bring the minister back to the question.

The SPEAKER: The minister rejected the premise of the question.

Anthony CARBINES: The only cuts and closures that we have seen to Victoria Police were when they were in office before – the cuts and closures party, the Liberal–National parties. There was $100 million in cuts and not one additional police officer funded in your time in office.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, reflections and imputations on members on this side of the house in relation to cuts are disorderly. They are completely baseless.

The SPEAKER: The minister did not reflect on any member of the opposition.

Anthony CARBINES: Victoria Police could only deliver 70,000 arrests in the year to September, a record number of arrests, with the record funding they have had from the Allan Labor government of $4.5 billion since we came to office: 3600 additional funded police officer positions under our government; a billion dollars in capital works funded by our government; Taskforce VIPER to disrupt and dismantle organised crime in our state; the work that we are doing to crack down on antisemitism, Islamophobia and racial intolerance in our community – we have seen that through Operation Park; Taskforce Lunar – I could go on.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, the minister is seeking to introduce extraneous matters to the question. The question was about cuts to the budget and whether they are from his bottom drawer.

Mary-Anne Thomas: Speaker, there is no point of order. The Manager of Opposition Business is jumping up here with no basis for the points of order that she is making. They are frivolous and a waste of time. The minister rejected the premise of the question and is able to answer the question in a way in which he sees fit.

The SPEAKER: I cannot compel the minister how to answer the question. I ask the minister to be relevant, though, to the question.

Anthony CARBINES: In rejecting the premise of the question and outlining the additional record funding from the Allan Labor government, it is also important to then describe how that funding is being used by Victoria Police. Victoria Police, through Operation Trinity, through Operation Alliance, can only dedicate these additional resources of Victoria Police on the ground if they have got the resources funded by the Allan Labor government – and they have them. It is for Victoria Police to determine where those operational resources are put. That is why we have seen some 70,000 arrests in the year to September. This is the work Victoria Police members do every day – a 24/7 emergency response.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, your own ruling in Rulings from the Chair, page 74, is:

Members do not have unfettered ability to raise matters extraneous to the debate at hand.

This is about cutting the current operational budget for Victoria Police and whether it is from the minister’s bottom drawer. I ask you to ask the minister to come back to that very narrow question.

The SPEAKER: The minister rejected the premise of the question at the outset. I do remind the minister that extraneous debate around the question is not allowed and ask that he come back to the relevancy of the question.

Anthony CARBINES: When you have record funding in Victoria Police from the Allan Labor government, there is a lot to say, there is a lot to contribute, and I can thank on behalf of everyone in this house Victoria Police members for the work they do to keep our communities safe, day and night – the 24/7 emergency response that is available to all Victorians thanks to the hard work of Victoria Police and the record funding of the Allan Labor government.

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:19): I note the minister did not thank Shane Patton.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Caulfield!

David SOUTHWICK: Minister, how will cutting over $1 billion from Victoria’s police budget make Victorians safer?

Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Minister for Police, Minister for Community Safety, Minister for Victims, Minister for Racing) (14:20): Totally wrong; I reject the premise of the question and the supplementary question from the member for Caulfield. Let us again be very clear when he raises matters about the Victoria Police budget, an annual budget of over $4 billion a year – but since our government came to office there has been $4.5 billion in additional funding, including $1 billion in capital works investment alone. And we are seeing the activity. We are seeing the benefits of that capital works funding not only through the member for Albert Park in South Melbourne and the members for Bass and Cranbourne in Clyde North; there is the work that we are seeing across the Narres, in Narre Warren South and Narre Warren North, the work that is happening there. And I cannot wait to get to Benalla with the Treasurer in the other place.

David Southwick: On a point of order, Speaker, again on relevance, the minister is attempting to provide a history lesson on what has happened in the past, not what is happening in the future in terms of a billion-dollar cut in the budget and Victorians being less safe.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Caulfield! There is no point of order.

Anthony CARBINES: We can only look to those opposite for cuts and closures and a funding cut to the police budget. Those who did not fund one additional police officer are those opposite, and they stand condemned.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, question time is not an opportunity to attack the opposition.

The SPEAKER: The minister to come back to answering the question, not attacking the opposition. The minister has concluded his answer.