Carter John: Policing Bill — First Reading 
Carter John: Policing Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:645;Page:14362] 
JOHN CARTER (National—Northland) 
: 
 As a previous speaker has said the National Party will be supporting this legislation. Before I actually talk about the bill I will pause for a minute to make this comment to the people who are listening. So often we hear criticism of this Parliament. We hear that we are always bickering and playing politics etc. and that we are always at each other’s throats. There are times when we actually work together to come to some agreement but sadly I never see those times reported. I think it is worthy for us to pause and note that this bill certainly has support and will be worked on at the select committee where it will no doubt be further developed. So here we have legislation on which we have been working constructively as a Parliament. Sadly it will pass without much recognition. 
Having said that I note that the bill itself is extremely important. The first thing I will do is add my comments to those of the previous speakers who have already recognised the very good police force we have in this country. Like every organisation it has its moments. There is the odd person in the police who lets them down from time to time but in the main they are good men and women who have their hearts and minds in the right place. They are certainly servants of the community. We can be proud of them as they are the people of this country who represent the front line as far as our fight against crime goes. 
There is no question that times have moved rapidly recently and times have certainly moved rapidly since the legislation that this bill is replacing was passed. Today it is common to see the police working not just with the community but in the community as well. Police are also working not just as policemen or policewomen but as part of the community. They work for example with the Maori wardens in schools and in traffic policing. The police work closely with all sorts of different organisations such as St John Ambulance and the New Zealand Fire Service. The police work with many different organisations that provide service to the community and they have become a big part of those sorts of functions within the community. We can be proud that they have moved with the times. 
I am sure we all have one or two stories to tell. I remember the good old days when police officers were more I guess individualistic. At times particularly in smaller communities they decided that maybe there were some things that could be straightened out on the spot. I have been proud to work with and become a very good friend of a number of these people who are very decent New Zealanders—good people. 
I remember an incident that occurred when I was a clerk of a local authority up north when we had the Project Employment Programme (PEP) schemes. It was Christmas time and I had to go across from one town to another in order to pick up the payroll which in those days was all in cash. The amount of money was in excess of $100000. I was a little nervous at having to drive 30 kilometres with this amount of money from the township where I had picked it up. So I said to the local constable: “Look I’d really appreciate it if you could spare an hour and a bit and come with me to make sure there are no problems.” I asked mainly because about 9 months earlier there had been an incident where something untoward had happened. He said it was no problem. The said constable went into his office got out his pistol and put it in his pocket. We hopped in the car and away we went. We had a lovely chat all the way to the bank. Halfway back with a boot full of $100000 in notes he said he had a bit of problem. He said he had a bit of a tummy upset and was caught short. He asked me to pull over to the side of the road so he could fix himself up. He jumped out of the car left the pistol on the seat and shot into the bushes. I was sitting there thinking: “Man I hope no one comes by now because I don’t know how to fire this pistol and I don’t think the constable’s in any position to rush back and do anything at the moment.” So there I was sitting on the side of the road with $100000 in the boot. Those are the sorts of things that happen. 
The other story is about a jail in that particular township that was actually never used. It became a chook house. One evening the said policeman decided he needed to arrest someone. It was quite late and it was dark. He arrested a gent just to keep him in overnight. He took him to the jail and pushed him halfway through the door—there was no light on of course—and all of a sudden the chooks decided to fly out and started flapping round the guy’s ear. Well I can tell members that he went straight from being quite drunk to being sober. He ran straight over the top of the cop and up the road and no one saw him for 3 weeks. It certainly solved the problem. It is those funny little incidents that we remember fondly. There was probably so much more respect for the police then than there is today. I must say that the atmosphere around that town was one of fairness and respect and there was a view that the town was well settled. These days it is different. 
We also need to consider things from the point of view of our police doing the job. When one speaks to a policeman or policewoman one-on-one one finds that part of the worry they have is that they feel we as a Parliament but particularly our laws and the courts do not support them enough in the work they do. They are unhappy with some of the laws they have to administer. They do not like to think that people they spend many hours searching for tracking down and finally finding—people who have offended against the community—can then just walk away by getting bail or getting some smart lawyer to represent them and they do not get their dues. I think that is an issue that this country needs to think seriously about. The community wants this Parliament to think about it. The police too would be happier if there was a better outcome in a lot of cases where they actually do their job and apprehend people rather than finding that the wet bus ticket comes out and insufficient punishment is meted out. If we are expecting the police to support the communities in the way that communities expect then we must make sure we give them every opportunity and every support where we can. 
This bill will do a lot to help in that way. It will focus more on policing in a modern age. It is the sort of thing that has a lot of support across the country and across the community and as I said that is reflected here today in this Parliament. That is a good thing. It is a good step forward and I hope it will have support. No doubt people will have their views and that is how it should be. There will be good debate in the select committee; I have no doubt about that. This bill will be thoroughly examined. I am sure the public will take a very keen interest in it. I am sure as has been said previously that local government will want to make sure it has an involvement apart from just representing its communities generally. The police themselves I am sure will be keeping a close watch on what we do. This is a good bill and we should move it to the select committee to allow it to be considered in more depth.