QUICK FACTS
- Majority of crimes are perpetrated by serial offenders.
- New permanent Strikeforce to focus on serial criminals.
- New relief pool to maintain safe staffing at our 24-hour police stations.
- Increasing clamping/confiscation period from 28 days to three months for first hooning offences, and from three to six months for second offences.
- Third time offenders will have their vehicle forfeited to the Crown to be crushed or sold.
- New laws to make it an aggravating factor in sentencing for posting and boasting.
- Supporting three Arch Centres – one in each region – for best practice support to victim survivors of family and sexual violence.
- New co-located Emergency Services Hubs – combining police, fire and emergency services in one location – at Kingston, Wynyard and Rosebery.
- Helping young Tasmanians – aged 12 to 17 – to learn practical emergency services skills in a new cadet program.
- Mental health and wellbeing support for Police and other first responders.
Under our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future, a re-elected majority Liberal Government will:
- Recruit 60 more police, taking numbers to a record high of 1521 full time officers.
- Set up a permanent Police Strikeforce to target serial criminals.
- Deliver a relief pool for frontline police to maintain safe staffing at 24-hour stations.
- Crack down and deliver stronger penalties for hooning, road rage and vehicle theft.
- Protect children with the new Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme.
- Deliver ongoing funding for three Arch Centres for victim survivors of family/sexual violence.
- Build three new Emergency Services Hubs – Kingston, Wynyard and Rosebery.
- Increase mental health and wellbeing support for frontline emergency workers.
- Pilot a new Emergency Services Cadet Program.
- Provide support for Crimestoppers.
An important part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania's Future is to create safer communities for all Tasmanians.
It took a majority Liberal Government to reinstate the 108 Police that Labor and the Greens sacked and reinstate graduate courses that they axed.
Since 2014, we have employed an additional 359 full-time sworn Police Officers – an increase of 32 per cent – but we know there is more to do.
Recruiting 60 more police officers
It took a majority Liberal Government to rebuild Tasmania Police and we'll keep recruiting.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will recruit an additional 60 full-time Police Officers, taking our police to 1521 officers by 2030 - the largest ever contingent of police in Tasmania.
Some of these additional police officers will be stationed around the State to establish permanent Strikeforce teams with 20 Police Officers that will focus on serial offenders - those career criminals who offend time after time - so they can be prosecuted and brought to justice.
Tasmania Police says the majority of crime in our State is perpetrated by these offenders, and we have seen the success of different taskforces when they are able to dedicate resources to this job.
The additional police will also ensure safe staffing levels are maintained at 24-hour police stations.
Crack down and stronger penalties for hooning, road rage and vehicle theft
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will crack down on hooning, road rage and vehicle theft to make our communities and roads safer.
Unsafe driving on our roads is unacceptable. We will introduce a new offence for road rage, double penalties for dangerous or reckless driving, and motor vehicle theft, and make it easier for vehicles to be forfeited to the Crown or crushed.
- For the first hooning offence we will increase the clamping/confiscation period from 28 days to three months.
- For second offences we will increase the clamping/confiscation period from three months to six months.
- A third time offender will have their vehicle automatically forfeited to the Crown. This means the vehicle is either crushed or sold.
We will also make it easier for police to prosecute hooning and reckless driving behaviour through any footage that is supplied by members of the public.
We will begin drafting legislation to achieve this within the first 100 days of re-election.
Introduce a new law that makes 'Posting and Boasting' about a crime an aggravating factor in sentencing
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will introduce laws that make it an aggravating factor in sentencing when an offender boasts or glorifies their offending by sharing posts on social media, including TikTok or Snapchat.
We will ensure this legislation enables Tasmania Police to use online posts as evidence for prosecuting offenders.
This behaviour is distressing for those who see it and can incite copy-cat behaviour.
Protecting children through implementation of the new Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will implement its Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme to protect children from registered sex offenders.
This will enable parents and guardians to find out if a specific person who has regular, unsupervised access to their child is on the sex offender register. This will empower caregivers and ensure they can access the information they need to protect their children.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government has already committed $2.9 million to employ an extra five Tasmania Police investigators to support this scheme. All have now commenced in their roles.
Significant additional measures to protect children from sexual abuse form part of the Liberals' implementation of recommendations from the recent Commission of Inquiry.
Ongoing funding for three Arch Centres supporting victim survivors of family and sexual violence
It took a Liberal Government to establish three multi-disciplinary family and sexual violence centres - one in each region of the State.
These centres are providing life-changing support for victim survivors and ensuring the services are provided in one location. By combining support services we have empowered victim survivors to make a choice about what service they need and when they want to engage those services.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will provide the funding needed to support the continued operation of Tasmania’s three Arch centres to continue delivering best practice support to victim survivors of family and sexual violence.
Construct a purpose-built Kingston Emergency Services Hub
Kingston is one of the State’s fastest growing communities and is chosen by Tasmanians as a great place to live, work and raise a family.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will support the safety of our growing southern region by constructing an Emergency Services Hub in Kingston to co-locate emergency services, including police, fire and emergency services into one strategic, contemporary facility, to keep the region safe.
This modern, well-equipped hub follows the successful development of the Sorell Emergency Services Hub by the Liberal Government, opened in 2023.
Establish a new Wynyard Emergency Services Hub
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will deliver a Wynyard Emergency Services Hub in one of the busiest townships on the North-West Coast, to bring together our police, fire and emergency services in one strategic location.
This project will provide much needed upgrades to the old TFS facilities and move Tasmania Police and the SES into a purpose-built facility.
Build a new Rosebery Emergency Services Hub
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will build a new contemporary and fit-for-purpose Emergency Services Hub for police, fire and emergency services workers in Rosebery, to replace outdated facilities for these frontline workers.
Increase funding to $4 million a year for our Health and Wellbeing Program for frontline emergency services personnel
A re-elected majority Liberal will continue to deliver health and wellbeing support for all frontline emergency services personnel, including Police.
This program began in 2018 under a Liberal Government and was put in place in recognition of the challenging work that Police and many other emergency services workers face every day, and the risks to their mental and physical health.
We will increase funding to $4 million a year for our Health and Wellbeing Program.
Pilot a new Emergency Services Cadet Program
A re-elected Liberal Government will trial a new emergency services cadet program for young Tasmanians over two years.
The program will provide hundreds of young people with a safe, fun and inclusive environment that offers them practical life skills and leadership opportunities through mentoring by our adult volunteer and career leaders across Tasmania Police, the Tasmanian Fire Service, the SES and Ambulance Tasmania.
The program will provide young Tasmanians aged 12-17 with the ability to learn and train alongside our emergency services.
Our Government has already boosted support for volunteers through the delivery of a dedicated Volunteer Support Team through investment of $2.4 million in 2021-22, and is investing significantly in upgrading volunteer stations and facilities, uniforms, tools and equipment, through an investment of more than $10 million.
Support for Crimestoppers Tasmania
A re-elected Liberal Government will provide $160,000 over four years to Crimestoppers Tasmania, to continue their work to build community engagement in reporting and uncovering crime.
Crime Stoppers allows people to report crimes anonymously and has been pivotal in contributing to a safer Tasmania with public safety and awareness campaigns.
Net Cost: $60.5 million over four years, including $25 million in capital investment
Note: Some policies costed elsewhere.