I was interested to read your 16 July article where Brad Battin said he only ever committed to a 24-hour police “presence” in Emerald not a round the clock police station.
Brad went on in your article to say a divisional van based out of Pakenham would adequately serve the Emerald community after hours.
I like Brad, but looking through my archives I found two interesting items which made me reflect on how politicians love good publicity but tend to opt out when things go downhill – as in the case of Brad distancing himself from this broken Coalition election promise.
The first is the front cover page of the Ranges Trader Mail of 10 May 2011 which features the proposed 24-hour station promise, with a nice photo of Brad and our local sergeant and, surprise, the article quotes Brad in inverted commas “by June 2014 we should have a 24 hour police station fully operational in Emerald”.
Of course, Brad could have been misquoted so I found my second exhibit – Brad Battin’s own June 2011 community newsletter.
Let me quote his first two paragraphs and last paragraph as printed: “Emerald police station will soon be upgraded from 16 hour to 24 hour operations, ensuring hills residents have round-the-clock access to emergency assistance.
“The upgrade means Emerald residents and business owners will no longer have to wait 30 minutes or more for police to travel from Pakenham to respond to calls made after hours.
“The Baillieu Coalition Government is committed to a safer Victoria and I am pleased to deliver this upgrade in Emerald.”
I guess I’ll go visit my old English teacher and do some revision because I am having real difficulty rationalising Brad’s position in July 2014 with what was stated back then.
Brian Hannan,
Emerald.
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