POLITICAL opponents have joined together in a call for more police infrastructure in Tamworth.
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party candidate Jeff Bacon said there was a need for more space for the current level of staff at the Tamworth Police Station.
He said calls for more space had fallen on deaf ears with Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson.
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“The Police Association’s call for more space at Tamworth Police Station is obviously being ignored by Mr Anderson,” Mr Bacon said.
“Tamworth Police Station also needs more space for its current staffing levels – be it a refurbishment or removing non-essential services such as VKG and Wireless Network Services to the old Telstra site in town.
“This would free up storage space for the thousands of exhibits collected every month and the current fleet of police vehicles.”
He also accused the MP of paying lip-service to the Police Association of NSW (PANSW) on its call for more cops on the beat.
“Mr Anderson is a parliamentary secretary and his party is in government, so rather than holding press conferences he needs to pick up the phone and call the police minister and demand more police for Tamworth,” he said.
Country Labor’s Tamworth candidate Stephen Mears said he’d push for secondary accommodation for “non-core functions” as part of his campaign.
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“We may be able to provide secondary accommodation for those units and we’d also like to man that as a 24/7 police station in the south of Tamworth,” he said.
The Nationals MP said his focus was boosting police numbers in the electorate.
“My focus is on getting more police for Tamworth, as well as the other stations across the electorate,” he said.
“The consistent call I get is people want to see more police on streets and the police they want more of their people being able to circulate around the city and the towns and villages.”
Mr Anderson met with local Police Association of NSW (PANSW) representatives about their push for 25 more cops for the Oxley district.
The Tamworth MP said he’d already spoken to the police minister, Troy Grant, in relation to the representation.
Mr Anderson said numbers of Tamworth electorate police, teachers and paramedics had increased in recent years as the community’s population grew.
PANSW has launched a statewide campaign calling on the state government to deploy 2500 more cops across NSW, so far its petition has received more than 7000 signatures.
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
