Mandurah Crime Rally - Philip supports community calls for more police

4th August, 2019

As the President of the Lions Club of Whitford, and previously a Board and WA State Director of the Australian Lions Drug Awareness Foundation (ALDAF), I'm involved with many government, charitable, community, sporting groups, associations and individuals, and a common complaint I hear is the increasing crime and anti-social behaviour being experienced by our community across Western Australia.

Likewise, after an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour in Perth's northern suburbs earlier this year, I organised a Community Forum with the assistance of Police, Politicians, Council, Lions and my local community. The timing of the forum was due to dangerous and concerning trends being identified with residents fed up, threatening retaliation and preparing to take matters into their own hands.

Invited to attend this forum were:
   -  City of Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts;
   -  Senior Sargent Simon Hazzell, Officer in Charge, Wanneroo Police;
   -  Senior Sargent Brendan Moore, Officer in Charge, Warwick Police;
   -  Michelle Roberts MLA, Minister for Police, Road Safety;
   -  Peter Katsambanis MLA, Shadow Minister for Police, Road Safety and Industrial Relations;
   -  Dr Anne Ally MP, Federal Member for Cowan; and
   -  Margaret Quirk MLA, Member for Girrawheen.

All except the Minister for Police Michelle Roberts attended this forum, and the community was able to seek answers to their questions from those present. I was also able to work with and advocate on the community's behalf with Police, council, mayors and politicians on the concerns of the public.

Unfortunately, in Mandurah there's also been an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour with several break ins, assaults, threats and drug related issues, and as business around the foreshore and mall area advise, enough is enough. As reported by our news organisations, this is a common theme being expressed by many West Australians throughout our state, with many now being personally affected by crime.

Today, there was a community rally organised by Dawesville MLA Zak Kirkup who called for more Police which I attended. I thoroughly support the community's concerns regarding crime, anti-social behaviour and their safety, and their call for more Police officers and resources to allow the Police to fight crime.

Also, in attendance today was friend and fellow Lions Club of Whitford member Peter Katsambanis MLA, Shadow Minister for Police, Road Safety and Industrial Relations, in addition to Opposition Leader Liza Harvey and Andrew Hastie MP, WA's Federal Member for Canning.

The rally also heard from Hayden Burbidge of Sportspower Mandurah and Ashley Ramm of Tackle World Miami, who both spoke of the crime they've experienced, and how it's affected their businesses.

Personally, I'm very proud of our Police who do a great job protecting our community and in keeping us all safe. Our Police however also need our support, as they need to be adequately resourced and provided with the tools, equipment and materials they need to do their job, in addition to my calls for a worker's compensation scheme to protect our officers in their time of need.

Our community demands a zero tolerance approach to crime, and together with our Police, its incumbent on us all to get tough on crime to create a strong, safe and secure community.

Philip Couper