Mark Ron: General Debate 
Mark Ron: General Debate 
[Volume:621;Page:16326] 
RON MARK (NZ First) 
: 
 Well at last a little touch of sanity. I have to tell this House that rather than worrying about National Labour needs to begin worrying seriously about New Zealand First. Because as that member just said New Zealand First is the law and order party. On that note I have some comments from New Zealand First for the Prime Minister. Every cloud has a silver lining and the possibility that she may have to sack John Tamihere actually does give her an advantage. That advantage is that John Tamihere having said that he would quit if George Hawkins was fired will be gone. That will leave the Prime Minister free to do the one job she knows she has to do—sack the Minister of Police George Hawkins. 
Why does she need to do that? Well I will tell the House why she needs to do that. This man Mr Hawkins came to this House after 9 years of bashing his gums on this side of the House telling the country what he was going to do. He was going to wipe out gangs. What do we see now? The gangs currently under his stewardship run a $400 million - plus methamphetamine operation. Have they been wiped out? Not on your nelly! They are thriving. This man said that crime levels were too high and they were going to get them down. Well the Minister brags and boasts about his doctored statistics—and we all know what statistics are. “Lies damned lies and statistics” is the quote that is often given. The best quote came from the  
New Zealand Herald 
 on 30 August: “To read statistics that say crime has dropped is a crock of garbage. People can’t be bothered to report thefts and burglaries—I know I don’t any more because nothing happens.” 
That is the testimony to this Minister’s stewardship as Minister of Police. He said he would make the streets safer. Well we all know they are not safer because when one rings 111 one does not get a boy in blue one gets a Blue Star taxi. That is this Minister’s solution to the public calling for help. Do not worry about the police. He has suddenly trebled the size of the police force by bringing the whole taxi industry into the blue uniforms and for that the public gives him no credit and no thanks. 
I turn to satisfaction with crime-related responses. Well the verdicts are out and currently responses to 111 calls have dropped. They are down at 67 percent. That Minister said today that I told an untruth. I recounted a situation of traffic patrols that are not responding. They are sitting silent on their radios and not responding to dispatchers who want to send them on calls. The Minister says that that is not happening. Well I tell this Minister that if he would care to talk to a policeman care to talk to a dispatcher and care to talk to a call-taker he would find that what I said is the exact truth. Worst of all there is writing to that effect. There are reports to that effect which have gone to the Minister’s headquarters—they have gone to the Commissioner of Police. The Minister quite clearly because he keeps a hands-off approach to everything does not know what is going on. That is why the Minister should be sacked. 
Let us look at something else. Helen Clark told the House that we would see a new age of accountability. How interesting is that? At a time of “inquiryitis” I would say when this Government is announcing inquiries left right and centre we have yet to hear the “hands-off Minister” George Hawkins announce an inquiry into the Shaw-Edwards-McNee case. The Minister said that a violent crime occurred. I tell the Minister that the file says there was no real violent and horrendous crime. What it does say is that Mr Shaw lied. It also says that 15 police officers were involved for hours and months and months investigating things that Mr Shaw lied about. He never ever said that he knew his assailant. He never ever said anything about having had his assailant in his house before. This Minister now knows all this. He knows that Mr Shaw should have been prosecuted for wasting police time and he sits there and does nothing. 
I find it absolutely incredible at a time when the Commissioner of Police has had a $70000 pay rise and at a time when the Minister has had his job reinstated because John Tamihere was going to resign if he got fired that he sits there hands-off letting the police go rampant. Who pays? It is the general duties officers and the bobbies in the incident cars and the public who pay. They have had a gutsful of this Minister. I tell Helen Clark that they want him gone.