{"id":213490,"date":"2018-07-11T19:00:17","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T09:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=213490"},"modified":"2018-07-12T00:27:20","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T14:27:20","slug":"crime-response-too-little-too-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/07\/11\/crime-response-too-little-too-late\/","title":{"rendered":"Crime Response ‘Too Little, Too Late’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
LNP Opposition Leader
Deb Frecklington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 11, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington has labelled Police Minister Mark Ryan’s response to the official “Reclaim The South Burnett” E-petition as “too little, too late”.<\/p>\n

Mr Ryan’s official response to the petition<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(231kb PDF) – which attracted 784 signatures before it closed on June 14 – was received by the Clerk of the House on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

(A Minister must forward a response to a petition to the Clerk within 30 days of a petition being presented to Parliament.)<\/p>\n

Mrs Frecklington said her calls for extra assistance for the Murgon and Cherbourg communities, in\u00a0particular, had gone unnoticed for months.<\/p>\n

She said she had written to the Minister three times since February this year.<\/p>\n

Her letters included details of incidents at\u00a0St Joseph\u2019s Catholic Parish,\u00a0Murgon State High School, Murgon State School and Cherbourg State School as well as the theft of multiple vehicles.<\/p>\n

“All\u00a0schools have experienced multiple break-ins over many months, leading to lost classroom\u00a0time for students, extra workload for staff and financial loss,” she wrote.<\/p>\n

Mrs Frecklington said it had\u00a0taken Mr Ryan months to finally realise something needed to be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s insulting for the community that their desperate calls have gone unheard,” Mrs Frecklington said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did it take a police officer being hurt during the terrible incident in Cherbourg just recently before the Minister offered any help at all?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was even admitted in Murgon this week, by the Police Service, that it wasn\u2019t until their officers\u00a0were hurt that the Labor Government were kicked into action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the community is very disappointed it has taken so long. They have been living with the\u00a0constant threat of break-ins, stolen cars and property damage.<\/p>\n

“It is taking its toll, especially on our\u00a0elderly and children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I welcome the deployment of a senior officer, and the Tactical Crime Squad, I am very\u00a0concerned that this may be a band-aid solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to see a long-term strategy to boost police resources and restore safety, not a fly-in,\u00a0fly-out response.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are also four new officers in Murgon, however, these are not new roles, just vacancies which\u00a0have finally been filled. I will continue to fight on behalf of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would also really like to congratulate and thank the South Burnett community for stepping up and\u00a0signing the petition.<\/p>\n

“While it has taken too long for crime in our region to be acknowledged, the\u00a0support for the petition did highlight the importance and urgency of this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Earlier On Wednesday:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington has asked why it took Police Minister Ryan \u201cso long\u201d to fill vacant police positions in the Murgon \/ Cherbourg area.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Quizzed by reporters in Brisbane about recent South Burnett crime, the Member for Nanango said four police positions had been vacant all year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also think it\u2019s a damning indictment on this Police Minister that he had to wait until one of his police officers got hurt before he took action,\u201d Mrs Frecklington said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this Minister is out of touch. He\u2019s certainly out of touch with my local community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been talking about this issue for many, many months.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy community has been rallying about this issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to put a petition to Parliament to make this Minister stand up and listen.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur local police officers who are doing such a hard job out there \u2026 they\u2019ve been feeding it up through the system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has taken for a police officer to get hurt before the Police Minister cared enough about my community to do something.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was extraordinary that my community had to put their signatures on a piece of paper to reclaim the South Burnett, to make our community safe again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope our community does become safe again. It is a wonderful community.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is a shame that Annastacia Palaszczuk and her incompetent Police Minister don\u2019t care enough about my community to listen to me as the local Member and also to my community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did 863 people have to put their signatures to a piece of paper before this Police Minister would act?\u201d<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

UPDATE: The original change.org \u201cReclaim The South Burnett\u201d\u00a0petition<\/a>\u00a0(still open) now has 927 signatures; the official\u00a0E-petition<\/a>\u00a0attracted 784 signatures before it closed on June 14.<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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