Jeremy Hanson, Shadow Police Minister, has called for urgent support for ACT police after the release of a damning Report on Government Services by the Productivity Commission.

“The ACT Government has underfunded and under resourced ACT Policing for years. This latest report shows just how much this is taking its toll,” said Mr Hanson.

“The latest report shows that the ACT has the lowest number of police per-capita in Australia, the lowest funding per person for police in Australia, the lowest clearance rates for property crime in Australia, and the lowest satisfaction of people who had contact with police in Australia.

“The most damning result of all is that the ACT is the only jurisdiction in Australia to record a negative average annual growth rate in real recurrent expenditure from 2016-17 to 2020-21. Every other state is increasing their real expenditure.

“You can see how that stretches our police. Last year, ACT police stopped taking calls from the public in person for certain crimes and moved to online reporting.

“I am calling on this Labor-Greens Government to increase the number of police to at least match per-capita levels with NSW by 2024, and to resource ACT Policing to re-establish face to face crime reporting and investigation.

“It is not a major ask – it is what every other state and territory gets, and what the ACT deserves. It is now up to Minister Gentleman to explain why he cannot, or will not, provide the ACT with the same service every other citizen in Australia receives,” concluded Mr Hanson.