Townsville promised 150 additional cops
Townsville has been named among Queensland’s ‘key’ regions to be handed hundreds of new police officers.
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Townsville has been named among Queensland’s ‘key’ regions to be handed hundreds of new police officers if Labor remains in power come election time.
More than half a billion dollars will be splashed in the biggest recruitment for the Queensland Police Service in about three decades.
Just weeks out from the October 31 poll, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Sunday announced that her government would deliver an extra 2025 police personnel over the next five years.
Costing $624 million, the Police Commissioner determined at least 150 additional officers would be deployed to every Police Region across Queensland, with 50 extra positions to go to the child protection investigation unit.
Member for Townsville Scott Stewart said this was a show of support for community safety,
“It’s good to know that the people who live and work in Townsville will benefit from this significant boost to police resources,” Mr Stewart said.
“In Townsville we have already delivered an additional 100 police officers, including fast-tracking 53 this year.
“It’s about keeping our community safe and it’s about jobs at a time when jobs and job security are more important than ever.”
Mr Stewart also welcomed $3.75 million for 25 new mobile police beat vans.
All 15 Police Districts across Queensland will receive a new mobile police beat van, with the allocation of the 10 remaining mobile police beat vans to be determined by the Commissioner based on needs and emerging issues.
Ms Palaszczuk said the pre-election announcement was the biggest increase in police resourcing in almost 30 years, and comes after an additional 600 personnel were added since 2015.
“Of the new police, 1450 will be frontline,” the Premier said.
“What we need now is we know that we want more out there across our regions, across our state making sure that they deliver for the people of Queensland.”
Asked if money was being borrowed to fund the new positions, Ms Palaszczuk said: “We’ve made it very clear that’s what our economic plan is about.”
“And it’s about making sure that we have the police that we need right across Queensland,” she said.
“There has never been such a big boost across Queensland, let alone for regional Queensland.
“It’s something that the regions have been saying to me that they want more police on the beat. And that’s exactly what my government is doing.”
Police Minister Mark Ryan used the $624 million announcement to take a swipe at the LNP, claiming they would cut resources as he pointed to decisions made during the Newman government.
“All of these positions are fully funded,” he said.
“They come with all of the equipment.
“They come with all of the resources that’s necessary for these personnel to do their job.”
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said she was “extraordinarily pleased” with the commitment, saying it would allow her to “substantially meet the challenges of the future”.
“I have, obviously, discretion in this to put staff where I need to put them in the future, which is also incredibly important to know that we do have agility and flexibility to meet those demands,” she said.
Originally published as Townsville promised 150 additional cops