News

Police | October 06, 2016

Kealy - Funding needed for police station upgrades

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy MP is again calling on the Andrew’s Labor Government to provide funding for local police station upgrades.  

“The Warracknabeal, Hamilton and Coleraine police stations need their outdated facilities urgently replaced or upgraded and I call on the State Government to release vital funds”, Ms Kealy said.

“The Warracknabeal station has extremely limited space and a poor layout, which places great pressure on local police to manage workflow and operate efficiently.

“The Hamilton police station is in dire need of renovation, with the current building significantly restricting the ability of police to manage interactions with the community. The Hamilton holding cells are in an unacceptable condition to hold suspects under arrest for more than a few hours.

“The Coleraine police station is past its use by date and needs replacing to meet service demands and security requirements of a modern station,” she said.

Earlier this year, Emma Kealy MP called on the State Government to detail their plans to redevelop police stations across the Lowan electorate and Murtoa was successful in receiving funds to build a new station.

“Our hardworking police officers do an outstanding job with extremely limited resources and are doing their utmost to protect our people, uphold the law and ensure safe communities,” Ms Kealy said.

“It is essential the Labor Government provides suitable premises to give our police the best possible opportunity to tackle the climbing crime rate in regional Victoria.

“Regional Victoria faces a greater challenge to recruit and retain police. Therefore, it is essential that our county stations and officers be provided with quality facilities.

“Now that the State Government has received $9.7 billion from the 50-year lease of the Port of Melbourne, Labor has no excuse to not fund our local police infrastructure projects,” she said.