The Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region the Hon Neil Thomson MLC is set to host a series of community forums across the regions in Western Australia to tackle the rising tide of crimes in remote communities.
“Crime has reached record levels in the Kimberley and an exhausted community is looking for answers,” said Mr Neil Thomson.
“I have been speaking to people across my region for many years but what was a sad trickle has become a flood of crime with the irony that the current torrential rains the only thing that will slow down the onslaught.”
Crime in the Kimberley has reached record proportions.
Mr Thomson has released a summary which shows that residents in the Kimberley are 11 times more likely to have their car stolen than in metropolitan Perth and are 14 times more likely to have their business burgled.
Mr Thomson pointed out that “businesses are seeing tens of thousands of dollars of damages for the theft of very small amounts of money.
“They are being broken into multiple times, as are residents,” he continued.
“And violence on our streets is becoming more commonplace.
“The only positive thing is that the Police are strongly supported by residents and they have fairly high clearance rates in relation to offences committed. Sadly, it is the rest of the system which is letting everybody down and that is what we want to talk to the community about,” said Mr Thomson.
In the December quarter 2021, many categories of crime were at their highest level since the public records began in January 2007.
“Tragically, both Family Assault and Serious Family assault were the highest on record, as were the non-Family assault categories.
“Dwelling and non-Dwelling burglary were also the highest on record along with criminal damage.
“Stealing of motor vehicles was second highest on record at 81 for the month, not quite reaching the September high of 90.
“I have met with leaders across the Kimberley and spoken to many, many people. I now want to bring some of those learnings back and hear directly from the community about priority solutions.
“I have also spoken to the local member, Divina D’Anna MLA and her efforts to raise this issue with Labor Ministers.
“My role is to champion this region in the media, in parliament and in person to the government to get this to the top of the government’s agenda,” said Mr Thomson.
Forums will be held in the following locations:
Depending on road access, we are available to meet with residents to listen to concerns at the Fitzroy River Lodge at 3pm on Wednesday 9th February