Connell Brian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Connell Brian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:618;Page:14303] 
7.  
BRIAN CONNELL (National—Rakaia) 
 to the  
Minister of Police 
: Does he stand by his responses to the House to question for oral answer No. 3 on 23 June 2004; if so why? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Labour) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Police 
: Yes because they were accurate. 
Brian Connell 
: Could the Minister please explain why he asserted that 90 percent of priority one events are dispatched within 2 minutes; when an internal memo dated 15 June from the manager of the Southern Communications Centre states that on Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and Friday of the previous week this requirement was not reached—in fact on the Tuesday only 73 percent of calls were dispatched within 2 minutes? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: As Kath and Kim say it is quite “ironical” that the member asks that question because he also asked questions at the time his question was raised on the issue of the Southern Communications Centre. What the member needs to know is that the 90 percent figure was accurate and even more importantly now the number of staff in the communications centre will be increased by 18 with five in the Southern Communications Centre. The situation is getting better. 
Brian Connell 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I would ask you to reflect on that answer from the Minister. He did not attempt to answer my question at all. I asked him how he could assert that the information was correct when clearly there is information to hand that demonstrates that the answer cannot in fact be right. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I listened to the member’s answer and the last few words very definitely addressed the question. 
Darren Hughes 
: In terms of meeting the response times that the Minister has outlined how do police staffing levels and resources compare between December 1999 when this Government took office and now? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Extraordinarily well. In December 1999 there were 8767 police staff; now there are 9827. The budget at that time was $840 million. Under this Minister it is now over $1 billion. This is a fabulous Minister of Police in a fabulous Labour-led Government. 
Brian Connell 
: When the Minister answered my question on 23 June did he have in his possession the memorandum from KierenKortegast the manager of the Southern Communications Centre that warned that priority one levels were not being dispatched to the performance targets of 90 percent but were in fact as low as 73 percent on some occasions; if not why not as I had that information? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: I am not sure whether the Minister had the information at that time but I am aware that there were some issues there. That is why the Minister has worked extraordinarily hard to make sure that the numbers have improved down there—going up by five. 
Brian Connell 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. We are getting ourselves into a muddle. I specifically asked the Minister whether he had that memorandum in his possession when he answered that question on 23 June. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister addressed the question. He may not have satisfied the member— 
Brian Connell 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Please be seated. I have not finished. I am getting tired of the member. That is twice he has raised points of order that are not points of order. The member did address the question. I heard the member. 
Brian Connell 
: Let us get the  
Hansard 
 shall we? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! That is the last warning. The member will leave if he interjects while I am on my feet. I say to the member that I heard the Minister Paul Swain say that he did not have the particular information there but he then added an answer at the end that said that the Minister was aware of the situation and had added five more people to that area. That certainly addressed that question. I am not here to judge the quality of the answer. I am here to see whether the Minister addressed the question. He did. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I do not wish to contest your ruling but there is a serious issue here which is that there is a huge discrepancy between what the Minister told the House and emerging figures available to the Minister at that time that later on became available to members of Parliament. The Minister was asked how he could explain that. That part he has not explained and he needs to. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I heard the Minister address the question. I will have a look at the transcript and I will see whether there is anything that I need to rule on further. 
Brian Connell 
: Does the Minister stand by his statement that sick leave has halved since February; if so why does information I have received show that 24 days’ sick leave was taken in the week ending 13 June a significant increase from the weeks ending 31 May and 24 May? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Yes I do stand by that because that is the information that has been provided to me by the police.