NEWS DESK
Lack of station patrols puts public at risk - Guy
Safety first: Opposition leader Matthew Guy says the state government should ensure protective services officers patrol stations during a trial of weekend train services. Picture: Gary Sissons
THE Andrews government has been accused of putting public safety at risk during the upcoming trial of allnight public transports on weekends. Earlier this month the Labor state government announced a one-year trial of 24-hour Friday and Saturday train services, called “Homesafe”, across the state including the Frankston line. Liberal opposition leader Matthew Guy visited Seaford train station last Monday (24 August) and slammed the government for failing to budget for protective services officers at all stations all night. “That leaves quite a number of stations like Seaford exposed to no security after 11pm,” Mr Guy said.
PSOs will be on duty all night at locations dubbed “premium stations” by the state government. Frankston, Carrum, Mordialloc, Mentone, Cheltenham, Moorabbin, Bentleigh, Caulfield, South Yarra and Richmond stations on the Frankston line have been classed premium stations with PSOs set to patrol these stations overnight. PSOs will clock off overnight at all other stations on Friday and Saturday evenings. “The PSOs will leave and it’s going to be a lottery if you’re not at a premium station,” Mr Guy said. “The fact that the public now won’t know which station has them or not is a real concern. The idea of PSOs is
that every station had them until the last train.” Mr Guy says the government “haven’t done their sums right” on the trial. When in opposition before last year’s state election Labor said the 12-month all-night weekend public transport trial would cost $50 million but this figure has blown out to $83.6 million. “The government has done it on the cheap. Our view is that there should be PSOs until the last train.” Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the government consulted with Victoria Police about the best model and the best use of resources. Ms Allan said police determined
109 extra PSOs and an extra 62 transit police would be needed, so funding was increased to enable Victoria Police to employ extra staff. “It’s disappointing Mr Guy doesn’t support this important initiative, which will do so much for people down the sandbelt and across Victoria who just want to get home safe on the weekend.” Carrum Labor MP Sonya Kilkenny welcomed the Homesafe trial. “I wish Matthew Guy would stop picking on Seaford. I live in Seaford. It is a terrific community with many families who just want to know that their young people can get home on the weekends.” Neil Walker
LETTERS Council police The article “Allies plan to fight crime” (The News 25/8/15) indicates an awareness of a problem, but shows that we really do not have any answers as to how to solve the problem. The idea that individuals who do not have any power or authority are able to prevent crime is not realistic. The article indicates to me that the police force is so under manned that it is un able to enforce many laws. This is evident in most news reports when we are told that police no longer do this or that - whether it be car chases, burglaries, shoplifting or home invasions. If it is relatively minor, they just don’t bother. We need a brand new (for Victoria anyway) approach to law enforcement. We need to follow the American system where they have both state and municipal police forces, which work together when necessary. The state police look after major crime, the local police look after community crime. We need to legislate for municipalities to allow their by-laws department to operate as a fully fledged police department. This new police force would be self-funding as the vast majority of the staff would be operational, rather than administrative. If each patrolman (and that is the only rank we would need) issued only four fines of $200 each to lawbreakers each day, that would create about $200,000 a year - plenty to cover salaries, administration and some infrastructure. If municipal rates had to be increased I am sure ratepayers would be happier paying for law enforcement that they could see each and every day. I think that should be your follow-up report on crime, not some senior sergeant trying to move the onus for crime prevention onto others. Alan Thompson, Mt Eliza
Transporting carbon What a Yes, Minister moment to read that Mornington Peninsula Shire plans to reduce its carbon footprint by exporting its waste to Hampton tip.
ment of a container port at Hastings, but it looks like I might have less to worry about. The Port of Botany has not only caught up, but a rail link is to provide for loading directly from ships to rail transport to the outer south west, interstate and intermodal depot for local distribution. This means huge savings and efficiency in eliminating extra, slow loading and unloading to ever more expensive, slower transit, higher toll road, polluting truck transport. At the presentation for Port of Hastings in Cowes we were told that Hastings would not be a goer without a rail link. So why is the Labor state government proposing the western distributor, hugely expensive road for the benefit of 15 years more tolls for Citylink, burning all that imported diesel, instead of our own electricity? Bernie McComb, Cowes
Top to bottom In one move we can get rid of our rubbish and feel morally superior. (“Shire in step to carbon neutrality”, The News.) It will be interesting to read of the next plan to offset the considerable fuel use involved in driving waste-laden trucks from Portsea to Hampton. Thomas Orr, Red Hill
Pane-full destruction Today I was saddened to give the last rights to the second speckled thrush in my garden in a week. Both had broken necks. The friendly little birds (I have even hand-fed them in the past) were wantonly killed by a local vandal. If the police want to follow up these murders, I can identify the culprit - the resident wattle bird. His modus operandi is to chase the little birds till they crash into the window pane. Perhaps the wattle bird should proclaimed a noxious pest and placed in custody? Kevin Sack, Somers
Wheelie idea On holiday at Yamba/Iluka northern NSW I noticed speed warning stickers attached to wheelie bins reminding motorists they were in a 50 kph zone. I thought this maybe a good road safety initiative to be adopted in residential streets on the Mornington Peninsula. From my own observations a number of motorists either do not know or care that most residential streets are a 50 kph zones. I purchased three stickers via the Internet to put on my bins in Mc Crae. Cost is about $10 each delivered. Web site is www.wheeliebins.com This could be adopted by the police and council as a road safety initiative. If large numbers of the stickers were ordered it may reduce costs. John Nevitt, McCrae
Container relief I’m still haunted by the possible mega-develop-
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Mornington News 1 September 2015
In January 2014 that most respected organisation, the OECD, stated that the world’s richest countries have not done enough to prevent catastrophic climate change. Australia was singled out as the world’s greatest gas emitter per head of population. Very recently our Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt has made a public statement that Australians, per head of population, emit the lowest rate of pollution of any developed country. What a remarkable achievement – from the top of the list to the lowest in less than 18 months, despite the prime minister’s refusal to financially support renewable energy and his objections to the world climate scientist’s statistics. The OECD is up front with its sources of information. Where does the minister’s information come from, as the government seems unable to accept climate scientists findings. What is the truth? As [Opposition MP] Penny Wong has pointed out (and we are already well aware of this): “As one of the hottest and driest continents on earth, Australia will be among the hardest and fastest hit by climate change, if we do not act now”. Peter Strickland, Balnarring
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