Coalition pledges tough on crime $750m investment

Federal police will take over a national crackdown on illicit drugs and pedophiles will be forced on to a national register if the Coalition wins the election.

The Coalition is set to unveil $750m in funding for ‘Operation Safer Communities’. Picture: NewsWire / Sharon Smith

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Federal police will conduct an Australia-wide crackdown on illicit drugs, and pedophiles will be forced on to a national register if the Coalition wins the election, as Peter Dutton seeks a post-Easter election reset with his traditional strengths on fighting crime and boosting the military.

The Coalition on Monday will announce a $750m “Operation Safer Communities”, which would see it establish a national drug enforcement and organised crime strike team to deal with drugs, tobacco and vapes, as well as a 12-month pilot national child sex offender disclosure scheme that would allow parents to apply to see whether an adult their child was interacting with was a convicted sex offender. This comes on top of other law-and-order policy pledges previously made by the Coalition, such as on anti-Semitic crimes and US-style syndicate-busting laws.

The tough-on-crime push – which helped Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro topple Labor governments last year – will come ahead of Mr Dutton’s long-awaited policy on defence, which is expected in the lead-up to Anzac Day at the end of the week. Mr Dutton spent a low-key Easter weekend in his home state of Queensland as he seeks to bounce back in the final two weeks of the election campaign after a mixed start.

He spent Saturday morning at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show and then flew to Brisbane, where he attended a community barbecue in Brassall, in Ipswich, Queensland – in the Labor-held seat of Blair – on Easter Sunday morning.

Mr Dutton remained defiant in the face of public polling that seemed to suggest falling support for the Coalition, declaring there was a “big disparity” between that and internal polling.

The $355m national drug enforcement and organised crime strike team would put a dedicated Australian Federal Police team in each state and territory, led by a national leadership group, with specialist financial investigative and prosecutorial teams. The money from the seizure of criminal assets and the proceeds of crime will be reinvested into communities, the Coalition said.

Mr Dutton claimed “Australians feel less safe than they did three years ago and that’s because community safety has been neglected under Labor”.

“I have the experience and determination to stand up to the outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised crime syndicates which are wreaking havoc on our streets and in our communities,” he said.

“These crime gangs are selling drugs to the people who are breaking into homes and stealing valuables to pay for their drug habit. They are the people who are purchasing your car when it’s stolen. I will strengthen laws and provide more funding for our police and intelligence agencies to stop the crime gangs, protect our borders, and protect our community.”

The second plank, the $21.3m national child sex offender disclosure scheme pilot, will be modelled on programs in Britain and Western Australia, a statement said. “The scheme allows law enforcement to disclose, on application, relevant information to a parent or guardian, on a case-by-case basis, once police have undertaken the necessary checks. Information will only be released to individuals where they have a genuine relationship to the child and police determine it is appropriate.”

The scheme will be overseen by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Organisation, and state and territory law enforcement will oversee vetting. “As a former police officer, and as a father, I have always fought for the protection of children from harm,” Mr Dutton said.

“This register is an idea whose time has come – and it is now time to put it into force to protect our kids.

“The scheme will serve as a powerful deterrent to offenders and, importantly, will enable parents to be fully informed about their child’s safety.”

The Coalition has traditionally enjoyed home ground advantage on law and order, and the issue has proven to be incisive in campaign messages for the recent electoral successes of Mr Crisafulli and Ms Finocchiaro.

Mr Crisafulli successfully campaigned on “adult crime, adult time” and has since introduced laws to crack down on serious youth crimes.

Ms Finocchiaro has similarly lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 10 following a spate of youth crime in the Northern Territory, particularly in Alice Springs.