Data doesn’t tell full story on police numbers, says minister

Queensland’s Police Minister says there are hundreds of new recruits in the pipeline despite damning data revealed this week.

Police Minister Mark Ryan and Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll on Thursday. Picture: David Clark

Police Minister Mark Ryan has declared the state government is on track to fulfil an election pledge to recruit 1450 officers by 2025, despite leaked data revealing a significant lag.

The internal staffing figures show the police’s total headcount for sworn officers grew by just 92 to 12,319 from the 2020 election to the end of last year – a rise of just 0.75 per cent.

But Mr Ryan insists the measurement the government uses to check against its promise is the allocation of funds, referred to by government figures as “approved strength”, rather than physical boots on the ground.

He also said there were “hundreds and hundreds of people in the pipeline” to join the force in the coming months on completion of training. as well as the government’s newly created international recruitment initiative revealed by The Courier-Mail.

“The measure the government uses is the measure of support for the Queensland Police Service, and that has manifested itself in dollars and positions,” Mr Ryan said on Thursday.

He admitted, however, there were difficulties in recruiting staff, which he said was shared by various industries.

“It doesn’t matter where you are in Australia – what industry and what sector, whether it’s a newsroom, a mining company, a corporate business, hospitality, retail, policing agencies, education departments, health departments and services – there is a tight labour market,” he said.

“But the Queensland Police Service has been very agile, very proactive, and very flexible with recruiting against the budgeted numbers that the Queensland government has provided.”

Mr Ryan’s insistence the government was on track to fulfil its election promise was rejected by Opposition police spokesman Dale Last.

“We all know that unfilled, ‘approved positions’ are nothing more than numbers in a spreadsheet, they are not police on the beat keeping Queensland safe,” he said.