I am pleased to announce that the Australian Government will help the local community to fight crime by contributing funds for the Be Seen at Nollamara Shopping Centre Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Project.
The project tackles crime and allows people to be safer and feel safer going about their daily business.
The Australian Government is committed to helping local communities fight crime and has a number of programs, including the National Community Crime Prevention Program, that promote partnerships to address crime at the grass roots level.
The Government is delighted to be able to assist the local community and the City of Stirling by providing funding of $85,000 to implement this important community project. The Be Seen project involves installing up to 10 modern digital TV cameras, control equipment and advisory signage throughout the shopping centre to deter crime and improve the capacity of law enforcement officers, who will work in partnership with the Council, to deal with any crime that does occur.
On 3 March 2007, a 37-year-old man using an Automatic Teller Machine at the shopping Centre was attacked by a man wielding a pick axe. When Michael Keenan, the local Federal MP for Stirling, brought this to my attention I was keen for the Australian Government to contribute to making the community safer.
Both the cameras themselves, and the signage highlighting their use, are expected by the Council to have a strong impact and discourage potential offenders who will know their chance of being caught by police will increase.
The general deterrent effect of the CCTV on anti-social behaviour and crimes such as vandalism and other nuisance crimes will also improve the local amenity for shopping centre users and workers.