THE latest “Report on Government Services” from the Productivity Commission reveals the ACT has the lowest number of police per capita in the country.

It also reveals the territory has the:

• lowest spend per capita for police in the country,
• lowest number of guilty convictions in the country,
• lowest magistrate court finalisations in the country,
• and the lowest clearance rate for property crime in the country.

Liberal police spokesperson Jeremy Hanson said: “The latest statistics show deliberate government defunding that is the root cause of many of the problems.

“Last year, the ACT was the only jurisdiction in Australia to record a negative average annual growth rate in real recurrent expenditure from 2016-17 to 2020-21. There are fewer sworn officers in the ACT now than 10 years ago, despite having a substantial increase in population.

“This is not an accident. This is a deliberate decision by the Barr-Rattenbury government to defund this vital service.

“I am calling on this government, again, to do a full review into the crime and justice system in the ACT and give the police the resources and support so they can properly do their job to keep everyone in our community safe.”