Sunshine Coast crime: Opposition MPs call out timing of Caloundra cop, station announcement
Opposition MPs have questioned the timing of an announcement of more officers and a new police station for Caloundra South as youth jail debate rages.
Sunshine Coast
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Opposition MPs are questioning the timing of a new police station announcement after under-pressure Caloundra MP Jason Hunt declared a new cop shop for Caloundra South would open in 2024.
The state government had come under fire in recent weeks for its plans to convert the Caloundra Watchhouse into a short-term youth remand centre.
Residents, business owners and Opposition MPs had slammed the plans with almost 5000 signatures gathered online and in person opposing the plan.
Mr Hunt and Police Minister Mark Ryan announced 10 new police officers would be deployed to the Caloundra station over the next two financial years in a fast-tracked bolstering of police numbers in the area.
The announcement was made shortly after a lively Budget Estimates session on Thursday, August 12, during which the issue of the proposed Caloundra youth prison was raised.
The extra officers would be based at Caloundra Police Station before being moved to a new police station at Caloundra South.
The new $9m police station had been an election issue and announcements had been made in October last year that the facility was in the state government’s infrastructure pipeline.
But the Caloundra South station was not included in the 2021-22 Budget regional action plan for the Sunshine Coast which detailed the major infrastructure projects allocated funding.
Mr Hunt took to social media on Thursday afternoon to declare the “state-of-the-art facility will be completed by mid-2024”.
“I am pleased to be able to announce that the Palaszczuk government are fast-tracking the deployment of some of the extra police officers ultimately destined for the new police facility at Caloundra South,” Mr Hunt’s post stated.
Ninderry MP Dan Purdie questioned what he considered to be politicising of police recruit allocation by Mr Ryan.
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said as part of a statement released by Mr Ryan on Thursday afternoon that rapid population growth in the Caloundra area had sparked the fast-tracking.
“The deployment of additional officers to Caloundra will ensure the QPS (Queensland Police Service) is building capability in the area for the future while meeting the needs of the growing community,” she said.
Mr Ryan’s statement indicated it had been a decision of the Commissioner to fast-track the allocation.
Mr Purdie described the announcement as nothing more than a “consolation prize” designed to soften the blow of the youth remand centre.
He said there were not enough police to deal with current crime levels, let alone extra crime and social issues a new youth jail would bring to Caloundra.
“The government needs to ensure these extra police numbers will be growth positions for the region and not just officers being reassigned from other stations on the Sunshine Coast,” he said.
“As we saw again on Sunday night, the lawless actions of repeat juvenile offenders is now a nightly occurrence on the Sunshine Coast.
“What our police urgently need and have been calling for is to get back the tougher laws they need to do their job and keep us safe.”
Kawana MP Jarrod Bleijie said the youth remand centre had riled Caloundra residents up and piled pressure on the state government.
“The people of Caloundra do not want this jail which will only bring more young criminals to our tourist town,” he said.
“We want families on tour, not touring criminals.
“Caloundra deserves better.”
The new Caloundra South police facility was expected to house at least 30 officers.
Mr Hunt said the commitments demonstrated the state government’s commitment to keeping the Caloundra community safe.
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