Queensland election result a warning for Malinauskas Government as Adelaide normalises crime | David Penberthy

If the SA Liberals ever stop arguing about abortion and each other’s preselections they might be able to make something of this, writes David Penberthy.

A couple of weeks ago while our house was being painted we spent a few nights at a serviced apartment in Gilbert St in the city while the painters finished the job.

It was fun living in town, especially being right next to the terrific Gilbert St Hotel with its cracking pub food.

But there was one of feature of city life that was a bit of a downer – the normalisation of crime.

Our first night there I wandered down to the local supermarket and bottle shop to stock up. When I walked into the BWS there was a puddle of beer on the floor and some broken glass. “Watch out mate,” the security guard said.

I made a lame joke about the tragedy of seeing beer go to waste and he rolled his eyes and said, “You just missed him, he ran in and grabbed a six pack but dropped it running out.” This attempted theft was one of several which happen every month at that Gilbert St store, hence the presence of a full-time security guard to keep the booze safe from would-be thieves.

The neighbouring IGA features a comprehensive window display of known shoplifters who habitually target the supermarket.

Premier Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens Picture: RoyVPhotography

There are so many of them that their CCTV images form a large collage at the entrance to the store.

This is what businesses look like when they cease to rely on and be protected by police in the fight against low-level crime.

It’s not a police matter any more. It’s an insurance exercise.

Governments often have a bit of a midterm lull. This is especially the case when you have fixed terms, as we do in SA.

Election campaigns bring a flurry of promising and implementing, then a period of managerialism, followed by a new round of promises and action as the re-election date looms. It’s the middle period of managerialism which can invite sloth and indifference, especially with the luxury of an inward-looking opposition not keeping you on your toes.

On law and order, the Malinauskas Government is starting to look like it’s got a serious dose of midterm lethargy when it comes to tackling the crisis of police recruitment and retention afflicting metropolitan and regional SA.

This year has seen a tail-chasing pattern where city businesses and workers have been targeted by vandals and thieves, the troublemakers being moved on only to resume their trade in other parts of town.

My colleague Stacey Lee was at her local bottle shop last week watching as a group of youths emptied the shelves in front of a security guard who was powerless to take any physical action against them.

You wonder whether these are the same yahoos who two months ago were hassling pubs and bottle shops in town and have now headed to Unley to slake their thirst.

Again, all of this would be much easier to police if the cops didn’t have one arm tied behind their backs thanks to a record shortfall in numbers.

The failure to attract new officers and then keep those officers in the force has never been more pronounced.

I spent a fair bit of my career covering industrial issues and it is rare to hear unions and management sing from the same hymn book on a topic.

Yet right now both the Police Association and the police commissioner have said publicly that SAPOL does not have enough police and that frontline operational policing is suffering as a result.

It is not often you year a police commissioner confirm that frontline police numbers are down but that’s exactly what Grant Stevens did on radio last time we spoke.

Not only is SAPOL some 170 officers down on required numbers but last year 227 officers left the force as 218 cadets were recruited.

The city is one thing but what about all those new land release suburbs out north and in the Hills?

In the same way these areas suffer from infrastructure shortfalls with an absence of public transport and sewerage pipes, they are also being hit by a human shortfall in terms of inadequate level of police.

Ultimate responsibility for all this lies with the state government.

They decide how much money SAPOL gets but they can also help determine the mechanisms put in place to lure people into policing and keep them there, such as sign-on bonuses and retention bonuses or better pensions.

Katy Perry with Tina Arena at the AFL Grand Final. Picture: David Caird

It’s been a total failure, one made more damning by the government’s admission this week that Commissioner Grant Stevens has gone to them asking for help.

Has any help been provided? Has it been effective help?

Herein lies the danger for Peter Malinauskas. His strengths can become his weakness.

It was illuminating this week hearing voter feedback over the question of crime.

Many if not most people talked about Gather Round, LIV, and most scornfully Katy Perry as examples of things the government can do.

Even people who profess to like those events still give the government backhanders, saying they seem better at staging golf tournaments or concerts than fixing bread and butter stuff like keeping cops on the beat.

These criticisms now extend to other areas, with several listeners saying this week that the government might have actually bought the Western Hospital’s oncology unit if it emerged that Katy Perry was being treated there.

Labor just lost the Queensland election.

The biggest problem that government had was longevity but the biggest current challenge it faced was failure to deliver on law and order.

If the SA Liberals ever stop arguing about abortion and each other’s preselections they might be able to make something of this.