Lewis Steph; Rurawhe AdrianSTEPH LEWIS (Labour—Whanganui): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. I am grateful to rise and take a call on the Policing (Killing a Police Dog) Amendment Bill tonight. I know that this debate so far has been a bit emotional and I know where that emotion comes from. It does come from a good place. We are a nation who loves our dogs. They are our friends. They are loyal. They are a part of our families police dogs included.As I've mentioned in this House previously my parents had a sheep and beef farm in South Taranaki and to help us out on that farm we had over the years a number of working dogs. You spend hours with your dog training them building a relationship earning their trust and they your trust. Each dog has its own personality. Dad would always remind us that we weren't to spoil the dogs; they were working dogs and weren't to come inside but that rule was never strictly followed and we all knew at the end of the day that they were part of our family too and treated with respect. When one of them passed away we all grieved and we missed them.I acknowledge that the bond between a police officer and their dog is even more special and unique and the trust in that relationship is unwavering. I saw as a child as well growing up at the prison village the relationship that police have with their dogs. I recall watching local officers bring their dogs down to the prison to run training drills. In fact I remember one day—one wintery evening—Mum taking us down to the prison to drop off Dad's dinner when he was working a four to midnight shift and one of the local officers asking if we would mind the dog sniffing around our car as part of their training. I saw the bond and the trust in that relationship. Police dogs do provide huge value to our communities and the loss of any police dog's life is tragic. It's tragic for the dog's handler and for the wider police communities.I was interested to learn when doing some research to take this call tonight that the first police dogs came to New Zealand in 1956. Since those first dogs arrived some 65 years ago 24 police dogs have tragically lost their lives in the line of duty or in accidents associated with their service. I think that low number shows how well our police officers take care of their dogs how well they protect them and are devoted to them and they should be commended for that. Tonight though we are debating an amendment proposed to the Policing Act in particular the current section 53 of the Policing Act which as mentioned makes it an offence to intentionally kill maim wound or otherwise injure a police dog and carries a fine of up to two years in prison or $15000. The bill before us tonight proposes to increase the penalty for killing a police dog from two years to five years.At this point I think it's worth mentioning that in the past when someone has been charged with killing a police dog those charges have also been laid alongside a number of other charges associated with the individual's actions and offending. In fact as my colleague Ginny mentioned earlier tonight the individual charged with the murder of police dog Gage in 2010 was actually sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison for the total of his offending which related to a number of offences.As I've said I do acknowledge the value that police dogs provide us. However I also come from a legal background and one of the things that we are taught to do is to step back and look at all of the evidence. That means not just to take knee-jerk reactions. The evidence is pretty clear and that evidence says that in general increasing penalties and sanctions does very little if anything to deter individuals from committing crimes. What does deter individuals is actually taking steps to address the causes of crime: reducing poverty making sure that individuals can live with dignity in their communities and participate in a meaningful way.I would like to finish tonight by acknowledging the incredible work our police force does and I am proud to stand alongside a Labour Government committed to supporting that work and providing them with the support that they need to keep our communities—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The member's time has expired.