12. Question No. 12—PoliceHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 12—Police12. Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement I reject the premise that gang tensions have increased under this Government's watch"; if so how does she reconcile that statement with the over 40 percent increase in gang membership since 2017?Hon POTO WILLIAMS (Minister of Police): I stand by the full context of all my answers at question time last Wednesday including my statement that there is no doubt that violence and gang tensions are a feature of our community and we have to do everything we can to ensure that we deal with that. That's why we are deploying the largest ever number of organised crime staff by funding 700 additional specialist staff introducing firearms prohibition orders legislation and why we've rolled out tactical response teams across the country. In answer to the second part of the question the National Gang List is an intelligence tool used by police and while the number of gang members on the list has dropped by around 500 since August last year it remains an unreliable tool for measuring gang membership. As such we will continue our work to target gangs. We know there is always more to do and we are working hard to address the issue.Hon Mark Mitchell: What is her response to Auckland resident Helen White commenting in the New Zealand Herald on Friday that—SPEAKER: Order! Now members got extra questions as a result of similar laughter. Do we want the reverse to be applied here?Hon Member: No.SPEAKER: No? Well just be quiet then. Mark Mitchell start again.Hon Mark Mitchell: Thank you Mr Speaker. What is her response to Auckland resident Helen White commenting in the New Zealand Herald on Friday that "Once we had a city full of international students and tourists. Now we are faced with an increase in gang activity in the city"?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: My response to that is that as a Government we have to ensure that we have adequate police and that they are resourced well. Can I just confirm for that member that in Auckland alone due to the fact that we are building a police force up by 1800 we have increased the number by 360.Hon Mark Mitchell: Was Helen White wrong to claim gang activity and crime has increased in Auckland?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: What I can confirm and what Ms White and I both agree on is the support that this Government has given to police to ensure that we deal with gang activity appropriately by ensuring there are 700 police focused on organised crime.Hon Mark Mitchell: Point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister didn't come anywhere close to actually addressing the question.SPEAKER: I think she came close enough.Hon Mark Mitchell: Can the Minister provide her definition of gang tensions?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: What I can confirm is that this Government has supported the police by lifting the numbers by 1200 so far; we're well on our way to the 1800 target. We've increased the budget by $450 million we are ensuring that 700 police are dedicated to organised crime activity and in Auckland alone—due to the increased numbers—they have 360 more cops on the beat.Hon Mark Mitchell: Point of order. Mr Speaker the Minister has stood in this House and told this House that there has not been an increase in gang tensions—SPEAKER: A point of order?Hon Mark Mitchell: And my point of order is that she has come nowhere close again to addressing the question.SPEAKER: Well I might have had some sympathy for the member if the answer wasn't being shouted down by Mr Doocey and others. If I could hear all of the answer I might have ruled in the member's favour but I couldn't. It might have been in there somewhere—I don't know—and you can talk to Mr Doocey about his noise.Hon Mark Mitchell: Thank you Mr Speaker. Could the Minister please provide her definition of gang tensions?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: It's a tension between gangs.Hon Mark Mitchell: Has gang violence increased or decreased under her watch?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: If I can point to the National Gang List that the National Party seems to rely on which has had a drop of 500 since August last year and if I can also point to the fact that we are now charging gang activity at 92 percent a much higher rate than has ever been before.Hon Chris Hipkins: Does she agree with the claim made last week that increased gang activity or increased gang tension is a result of the deportation of 501s from Australia as claimed on breakfast television last week by the Leader of the Opposition?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: What I can agree with is that the 501s have added an element which is very troubling into our gang environment and it did start under the National Government. Their response was to write a gang action plan in 2016 which they did not implement. In fact the gang action plan was implemented by our Government."