Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland recently labelled the Andrews Government’s plans to strip country towns of their one person police stations as “outrageous” and spoke out today to support a new community online petition calling on the State to guarantee those police stations will not close.
Concerned Victorians are being urged to sign the petition to stop small towns losing their only police officer to larger 24-hour stations as the Andrews Government seeks to channel officers from all 98 one-person police stations in small Victorian towns into larger regional hubs and cities.
Ms Cleeland raised the issue in Parliament last week, saying the change will put the safety of smaller regional towns in the Euroa electorate at risk.
“This move threatens to leave rural communities without a policing presence and sends a signal that the safety and protection of our rural communities doesn’t matter,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Many of these small country towns are too far away from a major centre for police to respond to an emergency situation within a reasonable timeframe.
“Given the multi-faceted role of single officer stations, it will undoubtably result in a rise in crime and decline in community safety and wellbeing in these areas.”
Four of Victoria’s 98 single police office stations are located within the Euroa Electorate and include Murchison, Violet Town, Pyalong, and Stanhope.
“In our small towns, the locally based police officer is a trusted public figure – proactively maintaining community safety, with on the ground ‘know-how’ and local knowledge,” Ms Cleeland said.
“The Nationals fiercely oppose the diminishing of police resources in our rural areas, we need more cops not less.
“Our rural communities should never be punished by Daniel Andrews’ failures in maintaining staffing in 24-hour police stations.
The petition can be found at https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/view-sign-e-petitions/details/12/526 and will remain open until 17 November 2023.
