Member for Currumbin, Jann Stuckey, has welcomed news that the Bligh Government has finally decided to invest in traffic police after pleas from officers had fallen on deaf ears for a number of years, but says we need them now.
“The successful Hoon Watch initiative I launched in September exposed the lack of traffic police on the Gold Coast and has shamed the Bligh government into finally boosting traffic police throughout Queensland,” said Ms Stuckey
“Hoon Watch has been well received from Coolangatta to Cairns despite the Minister’s baseless criticisms. Reports coming through my office indicate it is having a proactive effect by involving the community to assist police and dob in hoons who are making their lives miserable.
“It is proposed that an additional 106 traffic police are to be employed and put on our roads over the next two years, but we need them now to stop the carnage on our roads.
“Dangerous and illegal activities like speeding, drink and drug driving, hooning and careless behaviour all too often lead to loss of life, often of innocent bystanders.
“A respected Gold Coast police sergeant says that he is ‘disappointed and embarrassed at the way traffic policing in Queensland has been mishandled and the public should be too.’
“An article he wrote in the September edition of the Queensland Police Journal showed that Queensland has the second lowest number of traffic police as a percentage of total sworn police.
“This is indeed a disgraceful statistic and highlights years of neglect by the Bligh Government towards traffic policing in Queensland. With our increasingly high numbers of road accidents caused by speeding and resulting in deaths here on the Gold Coast the Government should have acted sooner.
“Neglect is typical behaviour from this Government. They wait until something is broken before they fix it. There is no foresight or planning for future needs of a growing population.
“I will continue to be proactive with local law and order issues in the Currumbin electorate”.
Ends
Media contact – Jann Stuckey 0439 755919