Brash Don: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brash Don: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19429] 
2.  
Dr DON BRASH (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does she have confidence in the Minister of Police; if so why? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes because he is a hard-working and conscientious Minister. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Is she aware that the Commissioner of Police commented this morning on television that the police “do the very best that we can with the resources we have.”; if so what does she intend to tell the nine rape victims whose files have not yet been allocated by the police for proper investigation what she will do to address their appalling situation? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Personally I am rather too busy to be watching television in bed in the morning so I did not see the interview referred to. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Would members allow the Prime Minister to complete her answer and perhaps she could get directly to the answer. 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: If I am to take at face value what the member heard when he had the time to watch television this morning what I would say is that the commissioner knows well that the budget for the police is up around 20 percent over the last 4 to 5 years and that there are a lot of resources there to deploy. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I draw your attention to the fact that the Prime Minister has not answered the question. She commented about what she was or was not aware of but she did not answer the very serious point made by Dr Brash about what she intends to do in respect of the nine rape victims who find themselves in a position where their cases have not been investigated. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The Prime Minister addressed the question. She may not have answered it to the satisfaction of all members but she addressed it in her reference to resources. 
Gordon Copeland 
: How can she continue to have confidence in a Minister who has failed to secure enough resources for police leading to such a loss of public confidence in the police force in Counties-Manukau Police District and other places that there is a grave danger that it may not recover? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: The assumption in the member’s question cannot be sustained. The figures I have show that already by July 2004 when the Minister had been Minister of Police for 3½ years total police numbers were up about 12.3 percent and the budget increase numbers I have are 19.7 percent. So I do believe that this Government has given a great priority to police resourcing. 
Rodney Hide 
: What is left of ministerial responsibility in this country when the Prime Minister herself attacks a hard-working front-line police sergeant for telling the truth about the lack of resources to a crime victim then declares her full confidence in a Minister of Police who does not even know what is happening in his own backyard? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: As the member will know from the statement issued by the Commissioner of Police the police intend to have further contact with the dairy owner but they have also set out the specifics around each of those complaints where they have acted according to the evidence they had. 
Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. It is very interesting to hear about what the police are doing about the dairy owner; my question was about ministerial responsibility. The Prime Minister addressed that question in no way whatsoever. 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: As I and the Deputy Prime Minister have been at pains to point out over a long period of time there are clear distinctions between what the Minister takes responsibility for and the commissioner’s operational responsibilities. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: If the Prime Minister has so much confidence in the Minister of Police why is that confidence not shared by the people in the Labour Party who ordered the listings and took Mr Hawkins down to the magnificent position of No. 25 even though he is a member of Cabinet; why is that confidence not shared by her own party? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I do not have any ministerial responsibility for a list process. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Can the Prime Minister tell the House whether it is her view that the police are short of resources as indicated by the commissioner’s comments this morning or that the commissioner has deployed resources so poorly that serious sexual offences are not being investigated? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: It is not a question of the police not investigating. Before cases are assigned a considerable amount of work is often done. I can advise the member that in respect of a number of the cases forensic evidence is being awaited before cases are assigned and inquiries are being carried out by the crime squad. The fact that a case is not assigned to an individual officer does not mean that no action has been taken. 
Dr Don Brash 
: If allegations of serious sexual assaults remaining uninvestigated are not sufficient to have the Prime Minister question the stewardship of the Minister of Police what exactly will it take to convince her of his inadequacy? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Had the member listened to my answer he would have heard that cases are being investigated. The fact that a case is not assigned to an individual officer does not mean inquiries are not being made. 
Dr Don Brash 
: I seek leave to table for the Prime Minister’s benefit and for the benefit of the House the transcript of the interview with the Commissioner of Police on the  
Breakfast 
 programme this morning. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection; it will not be tabled. 
Rodney Hide 
: I seek the leave of the House to table the letter written by Sergeant Forgarty that the Prime Minister called “ill-advised”. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection; it will not be tabled.