A full record of Mark's Speeches are available at www.parliament.qld.gov.au
A full record of Mark's Speeches are available at www.parliament.qld.gov.au
I start by putting on the record my thanks to all of the departmental staff from the Queensland Police Service, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Queensland Corrective Services, the Public Safety Business Agency and the Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management for their contribution to the very important estimates process and their support of me during that estimates process. I have often said that I am very proud to be their minister, and this estimates process just reinforces to me the great people we have got working across those agencies here in Queensland. I thank my ministerial staff for their support of me during the estimates process. I also thank all members of the committee including the chair, the member for Stretton, for a great estimates process. I am sure all Queenslanders appreciate the importance of this process.
The Palaszczuk government’s first and most important priority has always been, and will continue to be, ensuring the safety of Queenslanders. That is why our government has increased funding, resources and officer numbers for police, Fire And Emergency Services, and Corrective Services since we came to government. Since March 2015, our government has been putting police back on the beat and we have increased the size of the Queensland Police Service to more than 11,800 police officers. That is an extra 332 police officers who have been recruited, trained and allocated across the regions in our state. That is in stark contrast to the previous government, the Nicholls-Newman regime, which saw the dismissal of 106 senior police officers while the member for Clayfield was the treasurer.
In the 2017-18 budget, the Palaszczuk government has committed $32 million over four years for an extra 30 counterterrorism police officers, 20 rapid action patrol officers for Townsville and an additional 20 police officers for other regional hotspots across Queensland. The jobs bonanza does not stop there, with a $46.7 million world-class Westgate counterterrorism precinct to be built at Wacol. This state-of-the-art facility will generate more than 130 jobs during construction.
Another $66.5 million over three years will improve working conditions for officers as part of the Queensland Police Service certified agreement which was concluded last year. I emphasise that because it is in stark contrast to those opposite who, when in government, treated our police with disdain and even considered taking two weeks leave from our police officers as part of the enterprise bargaining discussions that they engaged in. Our support for our police officers is unwavering.
We have also allocated $8.5 million over four years for additional prosecutorial staff as part of the specialist domestic and family violence courts and $532,000 over two years to provide additional prosecutors to support the specialist high-risk youth court in Townsville. There is $7.4 million in additional funding over five years to continue the highly successful Project Booyah early intervention youth program and $7.5 million over four years for policing activities associated with the transition of 17-year-olds to the youth justice system.
The Palaszczuk government is also supporting our brave firefighters and Rural Fire Service volunteers, with more than $47 million to replace and purchase new vehicles for them. This includes $30.1 million for our Accelerated Rural Fleet Program which will see 60 Rural Fire Service appliances replaced during 2017-18 and many more in the next financial year. All up, our contribution to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services from a capital perspective is $107 million, and this includes new facilities, vehicles, communications equipment and other equipment to support our brave emergency service officers.
We have also committed significant funds to support our reform of the probation and parole system in Queensland, including $265 million over six years to implement the Sofronoff review, which includes a new parole board, a dedicated parole and assessment unit, expanded use of GPS tracking for up to 500 parolees and expanded rehabilitation and re-entry services. What is more, we are continuing to invest in additional capacity at our correctional centres, including the $200 million capital investment for a minimum 164-cell expansion of the Capricornia Correctional Centre.