POLICE Minister Corey Wingard has flip-flopped on a pre-election commitment to keep the Kalangadoo Police Station open, now highlighting a new review due to start in October.
In a letter to Wattle Range Mayor Peter Gandolfi, Mr Wingard dodged a question on whether the State Government would reinstate a permanent police officer at Kalangadoo, supporting concerns the single-man station will remain unstaffed and potentially close.
According to Mr Wingard’s office, a review into police work commissioned by the Liberal Government was announced in June and will examine “priority areas in rural and regional communities”.
The independent review into police work will start in October and be led by former Supreme Court judge Kevin Duggan QC.
During a visit to the South East last month, Mr Wingard did not address a question on whether the State Government would reinstate a police officer to the station, saying he was waiting for an existing statewide regional review to be finalised.
Last week, Mr Wingard’s office said in a statement the regional review, which was initiated by SAPOL under the Labor administration, was completed in May with no further changes recommended.
However, when asked about Mr Wingard’s comments made two months after the completion date, the minister’s office said the consultation for the review was completed in May with work remaining ongoing by SAPOL.
Mr Gandolfi raised concerns with the minister’s response, saying the revelation of a new commissioned independent review into police work in addition to the existing SAPOL review “flies in the face of the pre-election commitment that was made”.
“In this letter, the minister says the Liberal Government has recently commissioned an independent review,” he said.
“If that is correct, and I assumed the minister knows what he has commissioned – that means there are two reviews into regional police work – one initiated under the former Labor State Government and one under the Liberal Government.
“It is very easy for the minister to direct SAPOL to reinstate the police officer, all he has to do is inform parliament.
“If I was the police minister, I would be pretty proud to tell parliament I have reinstated a police officer in Kalangadoo.
“I hope the minister will be on the side of our community.”
At a recent Wattle Range Council meeting, Limestone Coast Local Service Area Superintendent Grant Moyle defended the centralisation of police resources, telling elected members technological advancements contributed to improved service delivery.
Supt Moyle told the chamber Kalangadoo accounted for 1.7pc of incidents across the region and said SAPOL’s focus was “where the best value for money is” and “where the best service can be delivered”.
Mr Gandolfi rejected Supt Moyle’s claims, saying retention of the officer was essential in building strong community connections and decreasing crime rates.
“We know the local superintendent has made a recommendation to move resources to Mount Gambier,” he said.
“We were advised technology has allowed that to happen because technology allows you to be further away, but to me that argument does not make sense.
“If there is an absence of crime in Kalangadoo simply by having a police officer as a home base, that would make sense.
“I would hate to be in dire need of a police officer and think I would have to log in and send an email off to get help.”
