Mr PALLAS (Treasurer) — I rise to inform the house of a new government achievement, of progressing to the next stage towards procurement of the Victoria Police intelligence management system, announced in the 2016–17 budget.

The Department of Treasury and Finance has now considered and completed that assessment of the request for tender for this project, which is an important stage of the high-value, high-risk assessment process. The project will ensure Victoria Police’s intelligence and analytical capabilities are fast, sophisticated and intuitive and will remain at the cutting edge of fighting crime. It is part of this government’s budget investment of $596 million in public safety and police response.

When we were elected in November 2014 one of the first things we did was fix the former government’s funding crisis in prisons. It was a Labor government that spent $120 million to fund the costs of running the beds in our prisons — costs the former government forgot. This year’s budget included investment in equipment and technology like night vision and camera equipment for specialist units, mobile technology, body-worn cameras and anti-ballistic vests. We also funded the hiring of 406 additional sworn police officers and 52 specialist staff. The opposition may talk about being tough on crime, but those who talk the loudest do the least.

We have invested more in new police officers in 18 months than the opposition did in four years. We said we would give Victoria Police everything it needs to keep Victorians safe — and we are getting it done.