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Dublin: 10 °C Wednesday 19 June, 2013

$50 million to be spent improving street security in Australia

It is set to be funded by money seized from criminals and comes just two weeks after the murder of Irishwoman Jill Meagher.

Image: Julien Behal/PA Wire/Press Association Images

AN AUSTRALIAN POLITICIAN is pledging that money seized from criminals will be used to pay for more CCTV cameras and better lighting.

The news comes just over two weeks after the murder of Irishwoman Jill Meagher.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott told the Herald Sun that $50 million (approximately €40 million) would be spent over a four year period, should his Liberal Party of Australia get to form a coalition government in the country.

Despite declaring that plans to fund CCTV cameras were discussed as far back as 2007, Abbott told the paper:

This is an ongoing, long-term concern of ours but obviously we’ve had recent evidence of how vital CCTV footage can be, however this is not something we’ve only discovered in the last few weeks.

The premier of Victoria – the state in which Meagher lived – praised the capabilities of CCTV and the role it had played in catching the man charged with her murder. Ted Baillieu said:

With the tragic events around the Jill Meagher case we’ve obviously seen it (benefits) very, very graphically and I think it’s just a reminder that these cameras can play an important role in community safety.

Read: “We are devastated. We are heartbroken.” Families grieve for Jill Meagher >

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Comments (8 Comments)

  • CCTV definitely helps in solving crime bit does it help prevent it? I know the argument would be it deters people from commiting the crime to begin with but I’m not sure that’s the case..

    Reply
    • Only highly visible CCTV acts as a deterrent, in the Jill Meagher case I don’t think it would have made any difference.

      Reply
    • I don’t know if it really prevents it. I saw a guy on Patrick Street last Christmas run across in front of my car and proceed to seriously batter a lad across the road. This despite the fact that he was on CCTV not only linked to Garda HQ but probably every step of the way home in shops and premises. People forget they are on camera so they what they like and then get caught afterwards.

      Reply
  • sid 08/10/12 #

    Politician jumps in band wagon and makes big promises If the voters get him in , now where have we heard that before

    Reply
  • Pity it took the death of a person to get this done..

    Reply
  • There was a serious terrorist act carried out in a city a few years ago. It was caught on CCTV. It definitely did not stop the act from happening. There are many robberies of stores and banks and it’s all on tape. Yes they do identify the culprit but the act was still carried out. CCTV does not prevent a crime it merely records what happens. Just saying.

    Reply
  • Now there’s a backhanded offer if ever I saw one – vote me in and I’ll do this. Whats the matter Tony, have you run out of grandmothers to flog?

    Reply

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