Family First's Jane Foreman says four inner Melbourne police station counters will close permanently nineteen days after Premier Ben Carroll promised Victorians more police stations open longer (Herald Sun, 4 September), and asks whether this government accepts that any problem Victorians raise is real.
The Herald Sun reported on Friday that the front counters at Collingwood, Fitzroy, Southbank and North Melbourne police stations will be permanently closed to the public from 4 October, leaving Richmond as the only police station in the City of Yarra. The Premier's announcement of 16 August was headed "More Reservists Means More Police Stations Open Longer".
"Nineteen days," said Mrs Foreman. "That is how long it took to get from more stations open longer to four counters shut for good."
"Victorians were not consulted about this. They were reassured about it."
Asked about the closures, a state government spokesperson said Victorians "have been very clear that they still want to see someone at the counter when they walk into their local station and we're listening". On 16 August the Premier said Victorians had told him the same thing, and that he was listening.
"The sentence never changes. Only the number of open doors does," said Mrs Foreman.
Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly called the closure a catastrophe for a community already feeling unsafe in their own neighbourhoods, said Yarra businesses are being firebombed and organised crime is running rampant on the streets, and called on Police Minister Paul Edbrooke to reverse the decision immediately. Yarra Residents Collective founder Adam Promnitz said the government had fibbed to residents when that promise was made.
"A mayor, a council and a residents' group all say the same thing, and every one of them is told they have misread their own suburb," said Mrs Foreman.
"Nothing is ever a problem in this state. It is always a plan."
Victoria Police is recruiting to fill some 1,500 positions by the middle of 2028, and the Police Association counted 1,407 vacancies last month.
"A counter does not close because a government is listening. It closes because there is nobody left to stand at it," said Mrs Foreman.
Family First is committed to tougher sentencing, real police powers, focused operations in the places where crime is worst, and the strong families that keep young Victorians out of the system in the first place.
"Victorians are not asking this government for a plan. They are asking for a door that opens," said Mrs Foreman.
Mrs Foreman says Victorians should not have to argue with their own government about whether their street is safe. In November they get two votes. One changes the government. The other puts Family First in the Legislative Council to make whoever wins answer for decisions like this one.
