Minister Felix Ellis’ “nothing to see here” approach to $35 million worth of cuts to the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management does nothing to ease concerns about the ability of our hardworking police to safely perform their duties and protect the community.

The Minister announced today that Tas Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) is now operating at full-strength with 20 full-time members, while again failing to acknowledge the impact his government’s cuts will have on the force.

We welcome a ‘full strength’ SOG, but information revealed about the Government’s efficiency dividend show that police are going to have to pick up the work of the jobs that are being cut from the department.

Documents obtained by RTI show that DPFEM believe frontline services will be affected - is Minister Ellis going to be up front about the cuts’ impact on frontline police services?

Police stations across the state are stretched to the limit, leading Police Association of Tasmania President Shane Tilley to declare the workforce in “crisis mode” while saying that there’s already a shortage of police.

If Minister Ellis really wants to address this issue, he must be upfront about the impact of his government’s cuts to police rather than continuing to hide behind empty rhetoric.

Jen Butler MP
Shadow Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management