1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes particularly more recently the Government's response to accept and implement the recommendations of the tripartite Holidays Act task force to simplify the Holidays Act and provide sick leave bereavement leave and family violence leave from their first day of employment. Already we've had support from Business New Zealand and the Employers and Manufacturers Association who welcome the news that the Holidays Act will be overhauled because of the long-term benefits to business and who were closely involved in the work to clarify the existing Holidays Act.Hon Judith Collins: Why has the prison population fallen 10 percent in the last 12 months while violent crime has increased 14 percent?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: A lot of that work in the early stages as the member will know hasn't necessarily been just about legislation through this House but in fact better managing remand. Remand is where we were seeing a high number of prisoners. It was causing quite dangerous situations in our remand prisons so the Minister of Corrections has worked really closely with the Minister of Justice and the Minister for Courts to improve the throughput through our courts to try to reduce down that remand population.Hon Judith Collins: Then why has violent crime increased by 14 percent?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course there are a range of issues that exacerbate violent crime in our communities but the suggestion that because we have dealt with things like remand and so on that has somehow contributed to an increase in violence crime—I would reject that premise.Hon Judith Collins: So what new powers will be given to the police under its new Operation Tauwhiro?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm welcoming the opportunity to speak to that programme because the leader of the ACT Party made mention of it yesterday. Really I'd describe it as being in two parts one of which was not referenced yesterday and that's the greater emphasis on search warrants and investigations to shine a light on organised crime and focus police enforcement attention on organised crime. This is something that's been made possible of course because of the additional recruitment that we've had: more front-line policing more dedicated police resource into organised crime. Alongside however that response we have also seen under the initiative of the police to try to have some effect on the supply side for gangs so addressing issues that cause members of our community to join gangs and trying to build greater resilience against that as well.David Seymour: Why didn't the Prime Minister make reference to the increased emphasis on search and surveillance in Operation Tauwhiro yesterday?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member was quite clearly making an attack on the preventative side and I addressed that.David Seymour: Or is it the case that the Prime Minister just didn't know at that point?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member clearly is in favour of one half of the programme but not the other half of the programme. The member attacked one part of the programme; I defended that part. Hon Judith Collins: Why does the police Resilience to Organised Crime in Communities work programme have no focus on reducing organised crime but instead talks a lot about people getting used to living with gangs?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I addressed the issue of the existence of gangs in the first part of the question in referencing the fact that it does have an enforcement side around dealing with existing gangs whilst at the same time trying to work with communities to stop our young people joining them in the first place. It's also useful to reference that just today we've had an example again of some of the work that's been done to make considerable confiscations and arrests relating to organised crime. We've seen a significant record-levels amount for instance of methamphetamine that has been located as part of our organised crime work over the last year.Hon Judith Collins: If you're taking it so seriously then why has the—SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! The member will start her question with a question word.Hon Judith Collins: Sorry—OK sure. Why does the police transnational organised crime in New Zealand strategy 2020-2025 have three objectives none of which seeks to reduce the number of people participating in organised crimes?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: It is a given that if you're going to combat organised crime you don't want people to participate in it and as I've just said you can't have it both ways. On the one hand we have a programme that seeks to address the fact that people are joining it which the members are attacking whilst at the same time trying to arrest those who are involved in criminal behaviour already within organised crime. If the members opposite wished to take the issue of organised crime seriously I would've hoped that they would've supported the increased penalties around the illegal use of guns in this country the increase in penalties for drug offences in this country. Members on that side voted against both.Hon Judith Collins: Then why has her Government so far refused to give police firearm prohibition orders so they can take the guns off gangs instead targeting law-abiding New Zealanders?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The premise of the member's question is incorrect. We are already working on that issue and if the member were serious about it then the National Party would have supported the legislation we put through the House under the last term in office on gun issues. If the member was even more genuine as the Minister of Police she would not have seen a decrease in police numbers.Hon Stuart Nash: Is it true that when the Leader of the Opposition was a Minister of Police police numbers actually fell and yet in the first term of this Government police numbers increased by over 1300?SPEAKER: The member could've probably dressed the question up in a way that was within the Standing Orders; he didn't.