I WAS pleased to read in The Courier this morning that the Labor Party and Wendouree MP Sharon Knight support the 'Dob in a Dealer' campaign, which was introduced by the former Liberal-Nationals government in October last year.
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The $150,000 campaign funded by the Napthine government and launched by (former) Corrections Minister Ed O'Donohue empowers members of the community to report drug dealers anonymously to Crime Stoppers.
Keeping our community safe must always be a strong priority for the state government.
The Liberal-Nationals went to the last election with a $1 million commitment to fund further Neighbourhood Watch and Crime Stoppers programs. It is deeply disappointing that the Andrews government has not had the strength to match that funding.
It is also disappointing that Labor decided to scrap the Crime Prevention Portfolio which is responsible for funding Ballarat's CCTV security network.
This was followed by Labor getting rid of the Graffiti Prevention Program as well as a host of other initiatives designed to crack down on crime and deal with perceptions of crime across Western Victoria.
Ballarat and Western Victoria need a state government that will not go soft on crime. I only hope that Sharon Knight's endorsement of the 'Dob in a Dealer' campaign bodes well for crime prevention initiatives in the next week's state budget.
And if Ballarat is neglected again I would invite her to join me in lobbying for these initiatives that crack down on crime to be restored.