Victoria Police charging to patrol sports matches, events, concerts
POLICE regularly patrol major events, sports matches and concerts but their attendance doesn’t come cheap. We reveal how much it costs to keep Victoria safe.
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THE cost of keeping Victorians safe at major events has been revealed, with police charging hundreds of thousands of dollars to patrol soccer matches, racing events and concerts.
Documents obtained by the Sunday Herald Sun reveal that the force charged more than $780,000 to attend almost 50 events between August and December last year.
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It included $143,169.35 for traffic management and “internals” at Phillip Island’s MotoGP, and $29,658.12 as more than 34,000 runners pounded the pavement during the Melbourne Marathon.
Police also charged to keep watch over crowds at Cranbourne, Geelong, Caulfield and Moonee Valley racecourses, and $9625 to oversee the Melbourne Cup Parade in Swanston St.
The force’s billing practices came under scrutiny recently when it charged the promoters of alt-right commentators Milo Yiannopoulos and Lauren Southern to manage protests at their appearances.
Victoria Police said it “would not disclose the cost of engaging our services, or the private discussions held as part of the arrangements”.
But Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said charging fees for police attendance at public events was a “longstanding and largely uncontentious practice”.
“Policing is a shared community responsibility,” he said
“This means that in certain circumstances, it’s more than appropriate for police to charge a fee for the important services they provide, particularly at commercial events where organisers don’t have the capacity nor the resources required to adequately secure their events and control large crowds.”
Police billed Melbourne and Olympic Parks almost $87,000 for events at AAMI Park, including A-League matches, the international soccer clash between the Matildas and China, and the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal.
Stadium management was also charged between $7600 and $8800 for concerts by Sia and Paul McCartney.
Melbourne and Olympic Parks chief executive Brian Morris said safety was the highest priority.
“Where there is a cost involved for police resources, it is covered by the event,” he said.
Among the more obscure invoices was a $7388.20 bill for police attendance at RMIT University’s graduation parade last December.
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