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Bob Sutherland welcomed guest speakers, Gary Humphries, Attorney General and Minister of Police and Jason Byrnes, Secretary, Australian Federal Police Association, members of the committee and the general public. Mr Sutherland also acknowledged the interest of local politician’s in attendance in regard to the issue: Dave Rugendyke, Ted Quinlan, Simon Corbell and Annette Ellis.

Bob provided an overview and background to the issues surrounding police presence in Weston Creek and the implications concerning Woden Police Station on Weston Creek.

Mr Humphries was invited to speak, followed by Mr Byrnes, with Mr Humphries having a right of reply. Questions would then be taken from the floor.

No apologies were received.

The Minutes of the last monthly meeting were held over. The minutes are available on our web site at

http://www2.dynamite.com.au/wccc

Gary Humphries indicated that attempts were being made to better utilise existing police resources and these resources comprised people and facilities. The combination and location of these two factors need to be maximised for efficient and effective use of allocated funding.

Problems were occurring in the de-emphasising of operational aspects, this needed to be rectified. The opening up of shopfronts brought the people to the police. The location and design of the Woden Station was not conducive to this approach.

Jason Byrnes indicated that the relocation of police from Woden Station to Tuggeranong (as all staff could not be located in a shopfront) created a zone from south of Lake Burley Griffin to Wanniassa. He also indicated that the Woden Station was built in 1968 and was in need of refurbishment.

An investigation into the costs of on-going rental of a shopfront inside a shopping centre compared to the costs of the existing building refurbishment needs to be undertaken. Speculation was made of the likely costs and number of square metres required for a shopfront. The numbers of police officers affected by proposed changes and returned to active patrol duty varied by different accounts, they ranged from 7 to 14. In addition 5 to 6 administrative positions also appear to have been affected.

The shopfront in Gungahlin and backup from Belconnen station was provided as the possible scenario of the Woden/Tuggeranong arrangement. The response time to Weston Creek from Tuggeranong based cars is of concern to police officers.

The overall strength of numbers is also a concern to the AFP Association.

Mr Sutherland indicated that Assistant Commissioner Bill Stoll wished to address the meeting before opening the meeting for questions.

Mr Stoll indicated that the review was an opportunity to discuss the options presented in a consultant’s report. Improved IT will assist in communications and reduce the number of times that police vehicles need to return to base. In addition it was considered that the floor space in a shopfront would be 300-350 sqm, comparable to the current building, excluding space taken up by building services eg stairwells, air conditioning etc. Detailed negotiations are yet to start with Lead Lease at Woden Plaza so most of the debate on the facility is speculative. However the issue of internal and external shopfront and vehicle use would be raised; as well as consideration of opening hours.

The issues raised in questions covered:

• Armed holdups and the lack of clear up.
• Neglect of equipment for the AFP
• There are now fewer police per head of population in the ACT compared with other States.
• Funding for equipment ($250,000) is welcomed but with the need to replace/repair existing gear no new equipment can be bought.
• Why has the AFP not got a location like the Fire Brigade and Ambulance? (Active patrol police respond to Priority 1 as this is a very different scenario so distance to base is not critical).

• Will response times to Weston Creek be longer? (depends on operational needs)
• Has the costs of the various options been considered in detail?
• Are there already plans in place for the use of the Woden Police Station?

• The consultation process needs to be with not only police officers but with the general public as well.
• The outcome needs to be acceptable to the public.
• A submission needs to be provided from the WCCC to the Joint Standing Committee on Justice and Community Services on the proposed changes to policing and the impact that they could have on Weston Creek residents.

Bob Sutherland asked Mr Byrne and Mr Humphries to each make a summation. Mr Byrne encouraged people to consider the resource issues of the AFP generally and more specifically the possible extended response times to Weston Creek of a relocated police station. Mr Humphries indicated that location was important, it was important for people access to a police station therefore the Woden Station appeared not to be providing that service. In respect of the access by police and response times to events there needs to be consideration of the operational constraints on the AFP. He indicated a willingness to work through the issues raised in the consultants report to ensure that available resources were used more effectively and efficiently.

Mr Sutherland thanked the speakers and the members of the audience for attending and contributing to the debate.

Meeting closed 9.35pm

Next monthly meeting 26^th August 1998.