The Nationals’ Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron, has used his last parliamentary contribution for the term to make a last-ditch call for the Carroll Labor Government to allocate Protective Services Officers (PSOs) to Morwell and Moe train stations.
“For nearly four years I have been crying out for PSOs to be stationed at both Morwell and Moe, and every step of the way Labor has rejected these calls,” Mr Cameron said.
Mr Cameron has calls for more resources since being elected in 2022, noting that just four train stations across regional Victoria have a PSO presence compared with Melbourne where all 227 stations are staffed.
This is despite data from the Crime Statistics Agency which shows there was a 49 per cent increase in criminal offenses in and around public transport in Gippsland from 2021 to 2024.
“The Morwell electorate has the highest rate of crime outside of metropolitan Melbourne, and the stats keep trending in the wrong direction,” he said.
“The Morwell train station and bus interchange is a hive of antisocial and criminal behaviour, and people travelling on our trains or who are simply going about their business on Commercial Road are not safe.
“Every second shopfront in Morwell is empty, and the remaining businesses are considering shutting down because the threat to staff and customers is simply too great.
“The Moe train station is also a hotspot for all the wrong reasons. Students commuting to school, people travelling to and from Melbourne and others simply going about their daily lives are under constant threat from criminal and antisocial behaviour.
“In my most recent call to the Minister for Police, he responded by suggesting PSO resources in Latrobe Valley did not need to be boosted because PSOs at Traralgon have the option of travelling to Moe and Morwell.
“What the minister fails to understand is that this is not possible; if the PSOs travel to Moe and Morwell, they have to be picked up and transported back to Traralgon by police in time for the last train, and that is one less police vehicle on our streets protecting our community.
“For far too long we have been dealt a dud hand in regional Victoria.
“We deserve to have the same protections as everyone else, and the statistics support the fact that we are in dire need of PSOs.”
