Media Release | 15 April 2025
Adam Hort MLA
Shadow Minister for Police; Corrective Services; Youth
Shocking revelations this week have confirmed WA Police are not resourced to enforce the Cook Labor Government’s own GPS tracking laws in regional Western Australia – a failure of Labor’s promise to protect victims of family and domestic violence no matter where they live.
“The Cook Labor Government put spin ahead of safety by announcing new laws were operational last December ahead of the State Election, without ensuring police and corrections could actually enforce them beyond the metropolitan area,” Shadow Minister for Police Adam Hort said.
“Last year this government was quick to announce GPS laws were in force, but it’s clear they were
more interested in the headline than the hard work of delivering it.
“While family and domestic violence continues to climb at crisis levels in regional Western Australia – over 132 per cent higher than when WA Labor took office – it’s disgraceful to think the Cook Labor Government hasn’t taken the necessary steps to ensure WA Police and Corrections have the capacity to actually enforce the law.
“WA Labor promised protection but gave WA Police an empty toolbox. How are officers meant to enforce laws without the gear to do the job?”
The Family Violence Legislation Reform Bill 2024 passed Parliament last year with bipartisan support and mandated GPS monitoring for repeat and high-risk family and domestic violence offenders.
But this week, the Bunbury Magistrates Court was told that electronic monitoring of offenders outside the Perth metropolitan area was not possible due to a lack of resourcing, infrastructure, and operational capacity.
In Perth, electronic monitoring is supported by a centralised command centre, live alert systems, and dedicated officers ready to respond.
But in regional WA, those supports simply don’t exist. There are no dedicated monitoring teams, no rapid response capability, and no funding in the state budget to change that.
“Right now, if you’re a woman in Bunbury, Kununurra, Carnarvon or Kalgoorlie, there’s a real possibility that you don’t get the same protection as someone in Perth,”. Mr Hort said.
“That’s not just a broken promise – it’s a failure in leadership.”
“The Police Minister needs to explain why regional officers were left without the basic capacity to do their jobs. Why didn’t the State Budget include funding to roll this out properly? And when will regional communities get the protection they’ve been promised?”
“You can’t claim to protect the victims of family and domestic violence if you leave half the state behind.”
ENDS
Media contact: Hayden Tognela – 0467 044 028
