Mark Ron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members Questions to Ministers 
Mark Ron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:618;Page:14463] 
3.  
RON MARK (NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Police 
: Is he confident that the police are sufficiently resourced? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Minister of Police) 
: 
 Generally yes. The Labour-Progressive Government has increased the police budget to $1.06 billion—up a massive $45 million over last year’s budget. That compares with the time when the questioner was a whip in the New Zealand First - National Government. In the 1997-98 year the police budget was only $784 million—a slmashing of $3 million from the previous year. 
Ron Mark 
: How does the Minister reconcile his answer with the report in the 
 Southland Times 
 expressing Senior Constable Mike Colligan’s concerns that morale at the Alexandra station was “at an all-time low” because of staff cuts and expressing his concerns that front-line officers were having to work solo shifts? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: I am happy to tell the member that the staff at Alexandra are not overworked. They make fewer than three arrests a week and of course if people have to work in rural areas occasionally on single shifts they are like people in urban areas at times. I think that that staff member should write to the commissioner if he is not happy or to an employment agency if he is really unhappy. 
Martin Gallagher 
: Can the Minister detail to this House whether the police have received any additional resourcing since the announcement of this year’s Budget? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: Yes: the equivalent of 18 more sworn positions in the communications centres 12 new positions for the commencement of professional driving campaigns following the pursuits review and another nine positions in the prosecution field—and the latter is probably because we are resolving more crime than was ever resolved before. 
Brian Connell 
: What steps has the Minister taken to ensure that the information he has available to him when answering questions is up-to-date and accurate in light of the internal memo entitled “Southcom’s performance for the week ending 13 June 2004 again overall is not good.” which contradicts the advice he gave to the House on 23 June that police are being dispatched within 2 minutes to priority 1 events? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: I tell the member that when one picks 3 days out of 365 then one may occasionally get that sort of result but the performance of the Southern Communications Centre has lifted by 18 percent since March. That is a really good performance. I think that member should stop picking on the centre and the staff who work there. 
Brian Connell 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked the Minister a very specific question about what steps he has taken to ensure the information he has is accurate. He did not attempt to answer that question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I thought he addressed the question. 
Nandor Tanczos 
: With regard to police resourcing what lessons does the Minister believe there are for the New Zealand Police in comments by the British Home Office published in the  
Guardian 
 that it has saved 180000 police hours each year by reclassifying cannabis allowing the police to “concentrate on class A drugs” which cause the most harm to society? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: I have not seen that report but I tell the member that the police are getting tough on all drugs whether it is marijuana—which is illegal—or any other drug. Our police do a good job and do not worry too much about what is going on in overseas areas because they are doing better here in New Zealand than the police do anywhere else. 
Marc Alexander 
: Why has $4.2 million in funding been cut from specific crime prevention activities undertaken by police that target violence burglary and vehicle offences and why has a further $2 million been cut from police prosecutions of criminal cases; is that now what passes for Labour’s policy of beefing up police resources? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: I do not think that person heard when I said we are spending more than $1 billion. There are fewer burglaries than ever before; they have gone down from 96000 to 60000. That is probably one of the reasons why the resource being spent is down in that area. 
Ron Mark 
: Does it not concern the Minister that with violent crime on the rise and an increase in the number of attacks on the police there should be only two patrol cars on duty on a Saturday night in a city with a population of 65000 people and that one of those patrol cars shouldshould have only one officer on board; is that the type of industrial relations that a good employer would be engaged in? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: I tell that member that crime is down 13.8 percent from when it peaked in 1996. The police are on top of crime and that member should be honest and say that crime is falling in New Zealand. The crime rate is down. Everyone knows that and the police statistics state it but that member wants to mislead the public of New Zealand. Why he continues to do that I do not know. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister will now answer the question he was asked. 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: The reason for those numbers is that that is the resource the police feel is necessary to police the area. 
Nandor Tanczos 
: I seek leave to table a printout from the  
Guardian 
 website showing 180000 hours of police officer time was saved— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is. 
Ron Mark 
: I seek leave of the House to table an email that was sent to the Minister by a concerned citizen outlining the shortage in staffing in a city that has 60000-plus people 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.