Image: Photo: NSW Police - Marine Area Command/Facebook.
By GRACE JOHNSON
The Minns Labor Government 2023-2024 budget is set to invest almost $10 million in the NSW Police Force including the construction of a new police wharf at Balmain but the announcement comes while the state’s police force is in hot water.
$2 million will go towards an upgrade of the Marine Area Command’s (MAC) Nemesis vessel, the largest of their strategic maritime assets. A further $7.7 million will fund the new police wharf at Balmain.
Balmain MP and Inner West Councillor Kobi Shetty said, “the MAC has been located in East Balmain since 1999, so it is not surprising that the wharf may be in need of an upgrade.”
It is still unclear how the new wharf will affect the community.
“I have yet to receive any community feedback about the planned upgrade to the police wharf, but will be watching closely to ensure that there is minimal impact on the local community,” Shetty said.
“The people of Balmain and surrounds have suffered a huge amount of disruption due to construction projects like Westconnex and Bays West, so the last thing we need is more of the same.”
According to a media release distributed on Sunday, the new wharf will ensure that the NSW Police MAC remains able to launch vessels from its headquarters and keep the city’s waterways and communities safe.
“The Marine Area Command plays a vital role in keeping our waterways safe and also in intercepting illegal drugs to keep them out of the hands of organised crime syndicates and off our streets,” said NSW Police Acting Commissioner David Hudson.
“The Nemesis vessel and wharf upgrades will help our MAC officers continue this important work and provide them with state-of-the-art resources to protect our waterways every day.”
The $2 million for the Nemesis revamp will go towards upgrades of the main engines, the hydraulic system, which will ensure the stability of the vessel in heavy seas, and telecommunications system, as well as a replaced electrical system and refurbished fire system.
The waterside location is significant as illegal drug importation into Australia has been a recurring concern in recent years, despite high-profile drug busts.
Australia ranks sixth for highest illicit drug consumption, according to data collected by the Sewage Core Group Europe (SCORE), which covered 161 cities from 28 countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Oceania, monitored between March and May 2022.
The funding boost for NSW Police comes at a time of intense public scrutiny for law enforcement.
Last week, NSW Police tasered and killed a 47 year old woman in Newcastle, Krista Kach, who was allegedly undergoing a mental health crisis, following a 9 hour stand-off. Police denied the request of the woman’s family for medical help prior to forcibly entering her Newcastle unit. They also barred the woman’s daughter from talking to her during the stand-off.
NSW Police have recently come under fire for officers using excessive force and targeting First Nations people. Data obtained by the Redfern Legal Centre via freedom of information laws has revealed that the disproportionate use of force against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people increased between 2018 and 2022.
