12. Police—Road Safety Budget and ResourcingSTUART NASH (Labour—Napier) to the Minister of PolicePolice—Road Safety Budget and ResourcingSTUART NASH (Labour—Napier): To the Minister of Police—[Interruption] Mr SPEAKER: Order! I now will give Mr O'Rourke his final warning. If he interjects again through this question time—[Interruption] Order! If he interjects again through this question time I will ask him to leave the Chamber.12. STUART NASH (Labour—Napier) to the Minister of Police: Does she believe the Police have sufficient resources to deliver on the community's expectations around law and order?Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Police): Yes and I always back the police to deliver unlike that member.Stuart Nash: Does she believe that the road safety budget being cut by 8 percent in real terms since 2010 has anything to do with the increase in deaths on the road; if not why not?Mr SPEAKER: Either of those two supplementary questions the Hon Judith Collins.Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Clearly it has not been cut. In fact it has gone up 6.7 percent in the last 3 years. But I would also say to that member that if he is going to blame the police and the Budget for the road toll what is he going to say about the fact that no one died on the roads last weekend?Stuart Nash: Is the increasing road toll to do with the decrease in road police resources or does she think it is more to do with the Clyde Road maintenance budget?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Neither.Stuart Nash: What are her views on the police research that shows that for every drop in speed of 1 kilometre an hour five lives are saved?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I would find that very interesting.Stuart Nash: In light of her statements last week could she please clarify exactly how far over the speed limit she believes it is OK to drive?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: It is entirely dependent on the conditions as well as the speed limit and I would say to that member as I have said many times that just sticking to the speed limit is not always safe as we have seen with people who drive 100 kilometres an hour around country roads.Stuart Nash: As the Minister of Police are there any other laws that she believes it is OK to break?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I would say to that member that the unwritten rule about not attacking public servants should be one that he should not breach as he did just last week when he attacked the district commander of police for the eastern district.Stuart Nash: Does she believe that the falling resolution rates for burglaries had any connection with the fact that her Government has cut the police investigations budget by 15 percent in real terms since 2010?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: No any more than I think the fact that this Government putting 600 extra front-line police on the beat actually was something that was very helpful to the resolution rates.Ron Mark: How can police resourcing in Upper Hutt be adequate when a respected businessman and National Party supporter says parked cars have been vandalised shoplifting is at levels not experienced before security guards are being assaulted and burglaries and robberies—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Can we bring the question to a conclusion quickly.Ron Mark: —are on the increase and police are not responding?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: If that member would like to provide me with the details I can assure him that they will be given to police in—absolutely very quickly really.Ron Mark: Why is the police presence shrinking in Dannevirke as Tararua mayor Roly Ellis has been reported as saying by the New Zealand Herald?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: The matters of where police put their resources is entirely an operational matter and they tend to put people where they are needed.Ron Mark: How can police resourcing be adequate when the president of Local Government New Zealand Mr Lawrence Yule and the mayors of 18 councils have joined a backlash against police restructuring saying ratepayers have been left to foot the bill in the wake of a shrinking front-line police resource in their community?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I like that member am a great supporter of local government. I would also remind him that there is a local government election going on this year that local government has always worked in partnership with police that police cannot always be everywhere all the time and that actually local government needs to take some responsibility and the vast majority of the mayors do.Ron Mark: Is the Minister aware that criminologists have long recognised burglary as an entry-level crime that eventually leads to assaults rape and murder and that it is on that basis that resolution of burglaries is fundamental to serious crime prevention?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: The member is quite correct.