15th May, 2025.
My question is directed to the Premier. I know his Government is aware of the growth in Wollondilly, and for months I have worked with the Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism to get an answer on the new Wollondilly Police Area Command [PAC] and the preferred location. Members of this have has been told that the land is subject to a land claim. How is that land claim going? If it has not progressed, will the Premier ask the Minister to find another place for our much‑needed PAC?
Mr Chris Minns (Kogarah—Premier): I thank the member for Wollondilly for a very reasonable question. I inform the House that the land claim was originally submitted by the local Aboriginal Land Council on 19 February 2015. It is one of tens of thousands of land claims that are in the system that the lands Minister is working through. Whether that work is State Government needs or the local Aboriginal Land Council's complex work in relation to property and settlements, it should not stand in the way of brand‑new infrastructure for the fastest growing region—if not the fastest, then the second fastest. I think it competes with the north-west region in the State. The Government knows that police infrastructure is needed to keep pace with that region's growing population. There are other options.
I have spoken to the police Minister and my own departmental officers. There are other options in the region, but we want to ensure that the police officers we have recruited have places to work in, particularly brand‑new police infrastructure. If that is good enough for areas closer to the city, it needs to be the same for the Camden region. Regarding staffing of police officers, we are recruiting for fast‑growing commands. The police Minister has announced recently that as a part of Class 365, which members would be aware is the largest graduating class from the Goulburn Police Academy in a decade, there are five new recruits for the Camden Police Area Command, six for the Campbelltown Police Area Command and six for the Nepean Police Area Command. The member for Wollondilly would know that there three commands have coverage for her electorate. From Class 364, 298 probationary constables graduated or attested: three for Camden, six for Campbelltown, and seven for Nepean.
The Government made promises at the last State election to fill command posts with new recruits, and that is as crucial as is physical infrastructure when it comes to the police. The Government is on the way to meeting those promises, but only because of changes to pay and conditions for police officers in the State. But I take the member's point that we need to make sure that police officers have the physical infrastructure—the police stations, the cars—and the technology they need to do their job.