9. Question No. 9—PoliceSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 9—Police9. SIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga) to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by all her policies and statements? Hon POTO WILLIAMS (Minister of Police): Yes. In particular I stand by my statement that The National Party are … showing their true colours in terms of their lack of support for the police and"—SPEAKER: No the member will resume her seat. While she might have made that statement it doesn't really relate to her policies at all. Maybe to a later supplementary that would have been all right but direct attacks as part of an initial answer are not appropriate. Simeon Brown: Is she aware of a new Police fleeing driver policy which directs front-line officers not to pursue a fleeing vehicle which is known to contain 3 kilos of meth? SPEAKER: Order! I'm going to ask the member to rephrase that so that it relates to the primary question to be answered. Simeon Brown: Is the Minister aware of the Police fleeing driver policy which directs front-line officers not to pursue a fleeing vehicle which is known to contain 3 kilos of meth? SPEAKER: OK. I'm going to allow the question but I'm going to remind the House about the important difference between governance and management. Police policies and Government policies and the Minister's policies are all different things. Answer the question. Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Thank you Mr Speaker. I am aware that this matter was raised this morning at select committee. This is a matter that is operational to the Police.Simeon Brown: Is it the Minister's policy to support the Police's fleeing driver policy which directs front-line officers not to pursue a fleeing vehicle which is known to contain 3 kilos of meth? Hon POTO WILLIAMS: I would remind the member that this question was answered directly by the commissioner as it is an operational matter and the commissioner's response was that it was unfortunate that this example was used within their training. Ginny Andersen: What advice has the Minister seen regarding the independence of Police operations? [Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! That—oh no that relates to an earlier answer. The Minister can answer it. Hon POTO WILLIAMS: I would remind that member that is actually in law: the separation between Police operations and the Minister of Police. Simeon Brown: Is the Minister concerned that under the new Police fleeing driver pursuit policy police are instructed not to pursue a fleeing vehicle which is known to have 3 kilos of meth? Hon POTO WILLIAMS: I would remind that member that that was in a training situation. However the primary function of Police is to keep people safe and I would be very—Hon David Bennett: They're not going after crims. Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Now would you mind if I just answered the question. SPEAKER: Order! Order! Not me. Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Sorry I apologise. I would ask the members just to be quiet while I answer this question because it's very important. [Interruption] They've asked—they want the answer. Otherwise I'll just sit down. I agree with the commissioner that it's really unfortunate that this has been part of the training package. However the overriding the overarching issue is that we keep innocent members of the public safe and I believe that this Police policy is trying to do just that. Ginny Andersen: What advice has the Minister seen regarding combating organised crime? Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Operation Tauwhiro which was launched last Friday is part of a suite of services that the police are putting into place. [Interruption] Mr Bridges is this a leadership issue for you? Would you mind just letting me answer the question? SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member will resume her seat—I'm on my feet. Can I ask the Minister to respond to the question and not to be diverted by irrelevant or even relevant interjections but especially ones which are relevant. And I say that her response is not helpful. I am getting a bit concerned with noise levels while certain Ministers are answering questions and actually noise levels and approaches when certain presiding officers are in the Chair. I just say that at the moment it's not looking very healthy; it's not being helped by the Minister. Now can we have the question again. Ginny Andersen: What advice has the Minister seen regarding combating organised crime? Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Thank you Mr Speaker and apologies. The Police launched Operation Tauwhiro on Friday which is part of a suite of policies and programmes that the Police have in place including their work on organised crime resiliency against organised crime in communities and the work that they are doing with communities and iwi to keep New Zealanders safe. Simeon Brown: Has the Minister had any discussions with the Commissioner of Police about a review of the new Police pursuit policy which says a front-line officer cannot pursue a fleeing vehicle which is known to have 3 kilos of meth in the vehicle? Hon POTO WILLIAMS: No."