Despite claims that police communications centres in Gladstone, Rockhampton and Mackay were earmarked for impending closure, the Minister for Police and Corrective Services Mark Ryan has said their will be no job losses and communities would not be disadvantaged by the repurposing of the offices.
Member for Burdekin Dale Last called out Minister Ryan during a sitting in parliament this week, saying the removal of the information centres in regional locations was a huge loss in local knowledge and years of expertise, and that the proposed Townsville hub was an impractical alternative.
"There's no better resource than local knowledge and they are taking all of that knowledge out of those communities," he said.
"It's a massive area to cover, out to the territory border and back through Blackall and Longreach, down to Birdsville, back to Rockhampton and down to Gladstone, so that's a big, big area.
"We've got some genuine concerns about whether those calls for service are going to be met, and let's not forget that this is an emergency service here.
"This is often the first port of call in times of emergency where people's lives are in imminent danger or threat, and time is of the essence, so we can't afford to have any delays and phone calls not being answered.
"We don't want to put police officers and members of the community at risk
"It doesn't make sense, because you lose all that local knowledge, you lose that experience and your people potentially lose their jobs.
"I know they did a trial a few weeks ago, over a weekend, running all the calls out of Townsville and it just completely fell over; they just couldn't cope with the demand."
Queensland Country Life contacted Minister Ryan, who said he had been informed by Queensland Police Service that there would be no job losses as a result of the closures, and that the Member for Burdekin's statements were "misleading."
"Local communications operators will remain in each location, Mackay, Gladstone and Rockhampton," he said.
"Significantly, the changes being implemented by police will free up valuable office space which will now be used to operate a District Tasking and Coordination Centre to provide an improved local policing service.
"Police communications in Rockhampton, Mackay and Gladstone are already managed by the Townsville Police Communications Centre.
"The Queensland Police Service advises that the changes it is implementing will deliver a higher level of service to local communities."
Additionally, the Minister said he had been advised by QPS that the quality of service would not be hindered by changes in geographical location.
"As everyone in the community knows, telephone technology has advanced significantly in recent years," he said.
"Technology has already rendered the geographical location of call centres irrelevant.
"It means that if someone calls triple-zero the call is answered by the first available operator, no matter where that operator is physically located.
"It is already the case that in all likelihood an emergency call made in Mackay will not be answered by a call taker in Mackay, instead the call may well be answered by a call operator in Townsville, or Brisbane, or any of the other police communications centres across the state.
"It's about providing the fastest response by having the first available operator across the network take the call."
In response, Mr Last said he was sceptical as to how the repurposed centres would benefit local communities, and the minister needed to confirm what role the communications operators would fill, going forward.
"What can be more important than a police communication centre in those local communities," he said.
"Can the minister guarantee that by relocating these call centres to one central location, that all calls will be answered in a timely manner, and that police will have the appropriate support that they need to do their job effectively?"
After being in contact with communications officers, Mr Last said there was a high chance of losing the 47 experienced employees in those locations by forcing them to move from their current regional bases.
"A lot of experience potentially could be lost in closing those particular centres," he said.
"There's a very real possibility that those officers will resign or just take early retirement, whatever the case may be, because they've probably been there for donkey's years, and all of a sudden, they've been told, your job's gone, you've got to move up the road Townsville.
"If they've got their home and life there, then they may not want to do that."
Queensland Police Communications Group currently has 13 centres located in various locations across the state, in comparison to the five communication centres in New South Wales, three in Victoria, and one each of the other states and territories.
