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
Mr Speaker, you will be pleased to hear that there is more good news for Queensland. Today I am very pleased to announce a new resource for our Queensland Police Service officers—the first ever BombCat. The BombCat will be housed with the Explosive Ordnance Response Team and will be able to assist our police negotiators and special emergency response team during high-risk incidents. The Palaszczuk government has made a commitment to make sure that our police right across Queensland, including our specialist units, have the resources that they need to help keep our community safe and ensure that our front-line police officers are safe. We are continuing to deliver on that commitment.
This $600,000 investment means that Queensland now has an armed vehicle that uses advanced ballistic and blast protection and allows the safe deployment of specialist staff at high-risk job locations including tasks where explosive devices, as well as firearms, are present. The Queensland police currently has two armoured vehicles known as BearCats. However, the new BombCat is the big brother to our existing BearCats—it is bigger, stronger and will offer our police an added level of protection.
This is what our government does. We do not just talk the talk. We listen, we commit and we deliver. When our police asked for body worn cameras, we delivered. When our police asked for additional technology that would allow them to be more mobile in our communities, we delivered. When our police asked for stronger, better, more comprehensive laws to deal with serious organised crime—
They do not like me saying it—we delivered. Our police men and women do an outstanding job each and every day right across Queensland. I will continue to support the rollout of the resources to our front-line police officers so that they can do their job of keeping Queenslanders safe.