"I don't accept they are significantly under resourced, they have more resourcing than they have ever had," he said.

"I understand there is a lot of pressure on police at some times to respond to community issues that come to them and I understand that challenges them, therefore we would like to see more police in Ballarat, but that same situation occurs in other work places."

Mr Howard said front line police in Ballarat had risen from 84 in 1999 when the Labor Government came to power, to 117 today, a figure at odds with claims made by the Police Association who say there are 40 per cent less frontline police in Ballarat now than there were in the early 1990s.

"If staff morale is at an all time low it is only because of the way Simon Overland's comments have been misinterpreted," he said.

"I'd like to see more police at Ballarat and have shared that view with (Police) Minister (Bob) Cameron and the Premier in the past," he said.

"The response has been the number of police has increased by over 40 per cent since 1999.

"I feel there seems to have been a misunderstanding of Simon Overland's comments and I will continue to talk with our police at both the superintendent level and other police in Ballarat and will continue to share that feedback."