Raising the BARR – Week ending 8 March 2019

Raising the Barr

Our Police are listening

There is no doubt that our local area could use more Police.  This is, as always, an ongoing work in progress.  Certainly our crime rates, our geography and our workload per Police officer tell the story that we clearly need more Police.  But historically Police have been allocated based on population, and by this measure, we have struggled to have our local Police numbers lifted in any significant way.

Despite the lack of staffing, our local Police do all that they can with the small numbers that they have.  And this means that they are stretched across a really big area.  The result of this stretching is that our community sometimes feels like the Police are ignoring their needs.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Recently, the Police held a community meeting with the people of Greta/Branxton.  The purpose was to provide a chance for the Police to hear directly from the residents the things that were worrying them.  It was a terrific, pro-active step for the Police to take.  My congratulations to them.

Having a town hall meeting doesn’t mean that everything is going to be fixed tomorrow, but it does mean that the conversation is being had and that efforts will be made to find solutions.  Meanwhile, it is my job, as the local State Member, to be making the argument for more Police and making sure that they have the Police Stations and equipment to do their job.  To this end, I have been, and will continue to, work with our local Police in the belief that together we can make the difference.

It’s Election Time!

This will be my final column prior to the election and possibly ever (if I am not re-elected).  If I no longer have a role to play in serving our community, I want to thank you for giving me your confidence in the eight years that you have.

On Election Day and in the days leading up to the election all political parties will have dozens of volunteers out there helping.  Please be nice to the volunteers – they are often just family and friends and they don’t deserve any abuse.

And despite feeling the pain of being forced to vote, try to imagine how bad things could be if you didn’t get the chance to vote or if that you were murdered in your efforts to cast a vote, as happens in some countries around this world of ours.

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