Joel Fitzgibbon MP: Federal Member for Hunter | Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs

Federal Member for Hunter, Joel Fitzgibbon says he is frustrated that Maitland City Council is still without CCTV cameras in the Maitland and Rutherford shopping precincts. 

The former Federal Labor Government committed $186,340 to fund two of Maitland City Council’s projects. They were:

$99,680 - Maitland City Council  A Safer City – A Watchful City
The project was to install an 11 camera wireless CCTV system in the mall and train station redevelopments to link environmental and social and developmental prevention approaches.
              
86,660 - Maitland City Council Rutherford Eye Watch
The Eyewatch CCTV system of six cameras was to be placed at the Rutherford Commercial precinct, particularly the retail area between the New England Highway, Rutherford Youth Space and the Maitland Neighbourhood Centre.

These two projects were fully funded in the 2013/14 Budget and after a robust selection process were selected by the Attorney General’s Department for funding.

When the Abbott Government were elected they cut Labor’s $40 million National Crime Prevention Fund and closed down hundreds of crime prevention projects that would have had a positive impact on our community. This clearly demonstrated their failure to understand the community's concerns about crime and violence, and their impact on people's lives.

The Turnbull Government needs to guarantee that if Maitland City Council is once again successful with their submission, that the funding will not be ripped away from the community.

WEDNESDAY 23, DECEMBER 2015