Mark Ron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Mark Ron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:618;Page:13713] 
5.  
RON MARK (NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Police 
: Has he received any recent reports indicating police are insufficiently resourced; if so what does he intend to do about this? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Police 
: 
 Yes the Minister saw a media release from the questioner but as the Commissioner of Police told the member yesterday safety of his staff is of paramount importance. Police are being provided with more extensive training and improved technology and safety equipment including link-line radios to ensure police are protected in what is sometimes a very dangerous job. 
Ron Mark 
: Has the Minister of Police seen recent research that shows that the perception of the overall performance of police in New Zealand is down public opinion of the police is less favourable and opinions about whether the police are fulfilling their role well within New Zealand society are down; if so would he not agree that one of the main reasons for that loss of public confidence is that under his tenure the authorised staffing levels of our police have fallen dangerously out of kilter with the workloads and our policemen and policewomen are simply not able to meet the public’s expectations? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Yes no and if the member stopped running them down we would be in a much better position. 
Jill Pettis 
: What new resources is the Government giving police to fight and continue to reduce crime? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think I have to give an edited version of this particular reply because the resources have been so extensive due to the Minister’s successful battle with my colleague the Minister of Finance. As a result of that work the Government is spending more to combat P and other amphetamines it is spending more on combating organised crime it is spending more on security and counter-terrorism it is spending more on buildings police cars and equipment and it is spending more on family safety. We are even cleaning up some of the scraps down Courtenay Place! 
Rod Donald 
: Can the Minister confirm that each year the New Zealand Police spends the equivalent of 150 full-time sworn officers on cannabis offences relating to personal use; if not what is the correct figure? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I regret to inform the member that as the acting Minister of Police I do not have that information but I am sure that if the member puts down an oral question to the Minister he will get the appropriate reply. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: What action will the Government take to compensate police for the cost of the Holidays Act considering the warnings of a senior police officer contained in an email which states that it has the potential to create huge backlogs for staff to have a direct impact on those looking after prisoners over the holiday periods and to have a huge impact on front-line counter staff? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: While this is a matter more for the Minister of Labour than the Minister of Police I think it is fair to say that in this area as with a couple of others the Holidays Act is being examined for its effect on salaried staff who already have penal rates built into their full rate. 
Dr Muriel Newman 
: Is the Minister aware that the Police vote—excluding road safety—as a percentage of total Government operating spending has reduced from 1.6 percent in 1999-2000 the year Labour came to office to 1.5 percent in this year’s Budget; given that crime has gone up over that time could it be that the two are linked? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I can inform the member that police appropriations have gone from $840 million in the year ended 30 June 2000 to $1.061 billion in the financial year we are about to enter—an increase well in front of inflation. The point that I think it is important to make is that Labour went to the electorate promising to emphasise health and education and to boost extensively spending in those areas and this Government has done that. As acting Minister of Police I think that is a good thing. 
Ron Mark 
: Can the Minister tell the House who is right: Councillor Lynley Claridge and youth workers Catherine Graham and Jim de Thierry who are reported in the  
Southland Times 
 today as saying that they fear a police officer could be killed because police in the district are forced to work lone shifts; or the Minister of Police and his Government who seem to think the police have all the numbers they need despite the growing workloads and escalating crime? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think it is fair to say that the Minister of Police has never said that the police have all the police numbers they need. The Minister is always fighting for more and he has been particularly successful. The key point to be made with regard to rural policing is that assaults on police last year were at a rate of 0.29 per sworn officer in rural areas and a rate of 0.56 in urban areas. The assault rate on urban police who police together is about double the rate of that on rural police. 
Jill Pettis 
: Why didn’t you do something about it when you were in Government? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Supplementary question Mr Ron Mark. 
Ron Mark 
: Given the interjection from the senior undignified whip on the Government benches I seek leave of the House to give an explanation of exactly what New Zealand First did whilst it was in Government with the National Party. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought. Is there any objection? There is objection. Please ask the supplementary question. 
Ron Mark 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Given that that member who asked me by means of an interjection to say precisely what we did while we were in Government has just denied me leave to give her an answer could you please assist me by keeping those sorts of interjections which are clearly meaningless and designed to interrupt my question to an absolute minimum—if not to zero? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member is absolutely correct and had the senior whip made an interjection after the member had started the question she would have been in a very interesting position in this House. 
Ron Mark 
: Thank you Mr Speaker. Is it not the truth despite all these claims of what the Minister of Police and the Government are doing to resolve staffing issues in the police force that on 29 September 2002 a member of the Southern Communications Centre wrote personally to the Minister of Police expressing grave concerns about the escalating workload the pressures of inadequate staffing levels the dangerously high stress levels— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Please come to the question. 
Ron Mark 
: —and the fear that the personal safety of officers on patrol was in jeopardy; and if it is the truth that the Minister received that letter what has he done to resolve the issue with the Southern Communications Centre since 29 September 2002—other than nothing? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I do not have all the details in front of me but I assume what the member said is correct—that the Minister of Police received the letter. I can confirm for the member that the Southern Communications Centre deals with 19246 calls per call-taker while the Central Communications Centre deals with 19240. 
Ron Mark 
: Can the Minister of Police tell the House whether he has read in the June edition of the  
Police News 
 the statement made by one Rob Neil of Canterbury a highway patrol officer: “It is not a matter of if a tragedy will happen with respect to police safety through understaffing and over-workload; it is a matter of when.”; and if the Minister has read that and understands it can he give the House a categorical assurance that should a police officer be injured or killed as a result of the communications centre’s failure to respond he will not only resign his portfolio but resign from this House? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: This Minister is sick to death of people who encourage people who assault police. 
Dr Muriel Newman 
: I seek leave to table the documentation that shows that the Government has been cutting police spending as a percentage of overall spending. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave has been sought to table that documentation. Is there any objection? There is.