Franks Stephen: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Franks Stephen: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:423;Page:18532] 
4.  
STEPHEN FRANKS (ACT) 
 to the  
Minister of Police 
: Was he denying any of the facts when replying to my question about the Bentley case “Why … would any frightened family … trust a police force that cold-bloodedly lies to them about when help may arrive and is instructed to stop them from getting their neighbours to help when the Minister of Police endorses that conduct and calls it a textbook response?” when he responded “I do not accept that the police are liars.” and if the police were not lying what were they doing? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Minister of Police) 
: 
 I do not accept that the police are cold-blooded liars. 
Stephen Franks 
: Does the Minister deny that Maggie Bentley was told that the police had surrounded the property when in fact no police were there for another 40 minutes and the officer in charge later admitted that it would have taken them 2 hours to get the squad in place around the property and that Maggie Bentley was told— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will please come to the question. He has had too long. 
Stephen Franks 
: Those are the facts behind the question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Yes but the member cannot go on forever. He will please come to the question. 
Stephen Franks 
: Does the Minister deny that Maggie Bentley was told that her neighbours had been called when in fact there was never any intention to do so; if so what does he call that conduct by the police? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: The police freely acknowledge that mistakes were made. That is part of the inquiry into and review of 111 calls. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Have the police made any changes to their operational procedures—I think that is the phrase the Minister used yesterday—as a result of the recent breakdowns in the 111 service? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: Yes the commissioner has reminded staff that when they are on duty they are all available to attend priority one calls—every one of them whether they are doing traffic work or any other kind of work. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: So they haven’t been? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: He has reminded them of that. 
Marc Alexander 
: How can the Minister expect New Zealanders to have confidence in his leadership of the police when the police spend a large proportion of their resources on giving out speeding tickets and seemingly cannot reliably respond to 111 calls or is his grand plan now to contract out police surveillance operations to the posties Jim’s Mowing or Hire A Hubby? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: None of those. 
Stephen Franks 
: What exactly does Labour’s police textbook say about the police telling the public things the operator simply does not know— 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. If one is going to ask a question with comments like that there must be some relation to reality; there is no such thing as Labour’s police textbook. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I wonder whether the member could come to the question without adding a little bit extra. 
Stephen Franks 
: What exactly is the policy that was endorsed as “textbook” and what does it say about the police telling callers things that at best the operator does not know and at worst are deliberate falsehoods and how will people ever trust a 111 service if the police are told it is “textbook” to mislead the public? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: I am advised that the communicator handling the call believed that assistance was on the way. Clearly that was incorrect. An honest and tragic error was made. It all forms a part of the review so that police can get it better. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: Can the Minister confirm that the “textbook” reference was to the fact that neighbours were advised not to intervene in an armed offenders incident and that remains police advice in these circumstances? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: Yes absolutely. 
Stephen Franks 
: What is the Minister’s answer to the two-thirds of farmers surveyed who say they no longer trust the 111 service and are turning to self-help when the police officer who eventually turns up may be instructed to arrest them for threatening the criminals and is more likely to do that than to ever catch the criminals in the hours after the offence? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: This is all part of the review.