Carter John: Urgent Debates — Police 111 System—Review 
Carter John: Urgent Debates — Police 111 System—Review 
[Volume:625;Page:20470] 
JOHN CARTER (National—Northland) 
: 
 I want to say right at the very beginning that what is important about this debate is the lack of faith the people of New Zealand have in George Hawkins as Minister of Police. As a consequence they have a lack of faith and trust in the Labour Government—Helen Clark her Minister the other Ministers on the Government benches and the members of the Labour Government—to solve this problem. The public has absolutely no faith in them at all. [ 
Interruption 
] People like David Benson-Pope who is interjecting should accept that they have as much responsibility to make sure that this is put right as George Hawkins does. He will be caned just as George Hawkins will be if he keeps on parroting away about an issue that he should be as responsible for as the Minister is. 
The Minister of Police George Hawkins is an absolute disgrace as a Minister of the Crown. The way he is administering his portfolio is an absolute disgrace. He has been an abject failure ever since he took hold of the reins of the police and quite honestly he has become more and more incompetent as the days go by. He has proven to be incompetent. The members on the Government benches who all have their heads down and who were not here to back the Minister when he was speaking because they were ashamed of him are now showing that by their body language. They know they are wrong. They know they have an incompetent Minister of Police. They know the way the Government is administering the police has been a failure. They know it is not working. They know that New Zealanders have lost faith in the police because of the way in which the Government administers the police. [ 
Interruption 
] 
David Benson-Pope is parroting on. Phil Goff who is sitting there smiling away as though the world is rosy knows that he is just as responsible as George Hawkins because they are the Government. They know that this has happened under their watch. They know that George Hawkins is a broken man because of his worries around police yet they allow him to carry on administering the police. They know that the police have lost trust faith and the ability to believe that their Minister will help them deliver what they would like to give New Zealand—a competent police force. 
I know from speaking with the police that they are as worried as every citizen of this nation about what is happening to them and about their inability to deliver for the community they serve. We know that George Hawkins has failed. The Government knows that George Hawkins has failed. George Hawkins as Minister of Police has failed the people of this country. The Government does not even support him on its party list. He is ranked so low that he actually pulled out of the list and has taken the chance that he might hold his seat at the next election. But the Labour Government sure is not backing him. 
The good thing is that after the next election Labour will not be in Government. Labour knows that George Hawkins knows he will not be part of the executive anyway come what may. This Government is showing that it has no faith in him to lead the police force out of its problems. The Government does not even believe in George Hawkins. His colleagues do not believe in him. Most important the police do not believe in him. And sadly the citizens of this nation do not believe in him. 
We have wonderful people serving in our police force men and women. They are dedicated people giving of themselves for this nation for the force they believe in and for the citizens of New Zealand. But sadly they are starting to lose their way. They are losing their way because they know they are not getting the guidance the support and the help they need from the Minister of Police George Hawkins—and indeed from the Prime Minister Helen Clark. They know that whenever they need support it is not forthcoming as it used to be. 
We once had a police force that was second to none in the world. It had great people was a great organisation and used to stand up and serve the community whenever it was needed. We cannot say the same thing today because Prime Minister Helen Clark George Hawkins Minister of Police and this Labour Cabinet have let us down. They have let the police down and they have let the country down. They know it and they should be doing something about it. They are letting this incompetent bumbling fool carry on in his position as Minister of Police. It is an absolute disgrace. Quite honestly it is an indictment on the Government members as citizens of this country that they allow this to continue. Each and every one of them is responsible for the situation and will be held to account at the election on the election platforms. 
One thing that seriously worries me is the public attitude now. Particularly in rural areas but not just in rural areas we are getting to the stage where because of lack of faith in the police members of the public are saying more and more that they will have to defend themselves. I remind this House of the case of Paul McIntyre a farmer who decided after having been burgled numerous times to defend his own property. He decided to do so because he knew that if he rang the police they would not have the resources and would not be there to back him as he needed to be. So he took a decision to defend himself. Mr McIntyre has spent the last 2 years and some months defending his right to protect his castle—to protect his property—and to protect himself and his family. It is a sad day when a citizen of this nation has to stand up and defend himself in isolation then gets bagged by the likes of Phil Goff the Minister of Justice when all he wanted was to look after himself his family and his property. This Government has put this country in such a predicament that Paul McIntyre had to take that action. 
And believe me mark my words—I am glad this will be recorded in  
Hansard 
—this is not an isolated incident. It will happen again while this administration—Prime Minister Helen Clark George Hawkins and the likes of Phil Goff David Benson-Pope and others—is allowed to be in control of this country and our police resources. While this is the case we will continue to see reports such as this coming out to tell us how badly run these organisations are. 
It is not just the police and the 111 system. We are seeing it right across the board. We are seeing it in education with the debacle about all the qualifications. 
Stephen Franks 
: In health. 
JOHN CARTER 
: We are seeing it constantly in health with more and more people on longer and longer waiting lists not getting the service they need. We see it in welfare where people need more and more support and are not getting their needs addressed. We see it in defence. We have great people in our defence force—absolutely outstanding New Zealand citizens—but they are sadly let down by an administration that does not believe in defending New Zealand at all and has taken us into an isolationist mode from a defence perspective. 
Stephen Franks 
: In corrections. 
JOHN CARTER 
: We see it in corrections in the economy in biosecurities—the list goes on and on. It is all because we have an incompetent Government fronted in this case by an incompetent Minister supported by an incompetent Prime Minister. Indeed the only thing we can really say the police have managed to do because they have had to is investigate the Prime Minister. It is a disgrace on her and a disgrace on this country that we have a Prime Minister who comes under the scrutiny of the police. 
In closing I sincerely hope that this Minister these Ministers and this Government will seriously consider this report because it is an indictment on them on their governance and on the Minister. If he actually were somebody of credibility in this nation who took his role seriously and really believed in his job as Minister of Police he would do the one credible thing left to him and step down as Minister of Police. There are precedents for it. One hopes that George Hawkins at least will take the step others have taken when they have made mistakes and proven to be incompetent: stepping down. That now is George Hawkins’ only remedy.