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 >