Federal funding to community organisations for crime prevention in the Hunter electorate will be cut by the Abbott Government which shows nothing is safe from the Government’s Commission of Cuts, said Mr Fitzgibbon.
The Abbott Government will cut the $40 million National Crime Prevention Fund (NCPF) announced by the Labor Government to fund organisations that prevent crime and help young people falling off the tracks and getting involved in crime.
The NCPF funded a range of projects including CCTV cameras, community outreach initiatives and youth crime prevention programs.
These projects were fully funded in the 2013/14 Budget and were selected by the Attorney General’s Department which considered hundreds of applications from Councils and non-government organisations across the country.
The Abbott Government has said they will cut funding from the NCPF, closing down hundreds of crime prevention projects that have a positive impact on our community.
Minister for Justice Michael Keenan recently said:
“We are in the process of advising organisations who were promised funding under the national crime prevention fund not to make any financial commitments on the basis of commitments made by the former government”.
In the Hunter electorate our community will lose almost $200,000 for 3 projects because of the Abbott Government’s cuts.
These projects are;
$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.
$7,635 - Singleton Council Installation of Fencing and Gates Across Howe Park This project was to install lockable gates at each entrance point to Howe Park to control public entry after dark as a measure to prevent recidivism among offenders who have engaged in malicious damage.
The victims of the Abbott Government’s cuts will be communities that will lose vital projects designed to enhance community safety and crime prevention.
“I call on the Abbott Government to guarantee funding for the National Crime Prevention Fund or they will demonstrate their failure to understand the community's concerns about crime and violence, and their impact on people's lives,” said Mr Fitzgibbon.
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