Northern Victoria Region
Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:47): (1425) My question is for the Minister for Police. Will the minister commit to funding a new police station in the Whittlesea township in the 2025–26 state budget? Last week I attended a neighbourhood crime forum for the Whittlesea police service area, where concerned residents outlined the fear that exists in many parts of the municipality due to the rising levels of violent crime. The latest Crime Statistics Agency data shows that crime is up 28 per cent in the Whittlesea municipality. Victoria Police representatives said that one of the major obstacles to effectively tackling crime are resource constraints and that Whittlesea police station in particular was not fit for purpose and urgently needs to be replaced. The building is rickety, full of asbestos and lacks disabled access. Six years ago minor renovations that added some security features and replaced old doors were done, but that is not good enough. Last Friday a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old male received stab wounds in an incident at Epping shopping centre. The minister – (Time expired)