11. Question No. 11—PoliceHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 11—Police11. Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer"; if so why?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN (Minister of Police): I stand by my full statement: "It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer with a Government on track to deliver 1800 extra police." As police Minister I remain committed to making New Zealanders feel safe through the actions this Government is taking including the delivery of 1800 additional police officers. The alternative is a drop in police numbers like we saw under National.Hon Mark Mitchell: Can she confirm that 55 percent of police stations around New Zealand have either lost or not had an increase in constabulary staff since 2017?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: No. In fact all police districts right across New Zealand have seen an increase in police officers and I'm happy to give that member those numbers. If I read through the police districts Northland has had 73 more police officers; Waikato 114; Bay of Plenty 129; Central 91; Eastern 99; Wellington 89; Tasman 49; Canterbury 126; Southern 56; and also in Tāmaki Makaurau 388 additional police officers.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Point of order Mr Speaker. I wonder if you would agree with me that the Minister answering a question about stations with data about districts does not address the question.SPEAKER: Yeah I have to agree with you. I'll give the member an extra question.Hon Mark Mitchell: Can the Minister confirm that 55 percent of police stations around New Zealand have either lost or not had an increase in constabulary staff since 2017?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: The information that I have is by district. What the member may be getting confused with with some of the data he's received is that the additional police that have gone into areas such as Wellington and Auckland have been the increase in those working on organised crime. This includes a mix of investigators specialist authorised officers handling areas like cyber-crime financial forensic investigators and asset recovery.Hon Mark Mitchell: Mr Speaker I'm seeking leave to table a Police Official Information Act request which shows that 311 police stations around New Zealand have either lost staff or not gained any between October 2017 and November 2022.SPEAKER: Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There appears to be none. It may be tabled.Document not tabled.Hon Mark Mitchell: Why does she keep saying that the Government's response to record violent crime is 1800 new police when over half of all police stations have received no extra staff?Hon Andrew Little: What a stupid question. [Interruption]Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: Mr Speaker—SPEAKER: Yes well you might want to ask your colleague to be quiet.Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: I'd like to give the example of Auckland. So police has centralised a number of functions in Tāmaki-makau-rau meaning a large number of police formerly within districts are now counted in a centralised group. This central group includes the dog section the Eagle much of the road-policing staffing and the deployment workforce managements. This kind of work should be centralised because it improves efficiency for the front line. When you add all the police working in Tāmaki-makau-rau there has been an increase of 388 additional staff since 2017. I'm aware that that member has not been on the front line for some time. If he would like a briefing from police to understand how police structures work I'm more than happy to provide that.SPEAKER: That was a pretty straight-up question you know. It didn't really need the personal attack at the end. I'll give the member another supplementary.Hon Stuart Nash: Supplementary.SPEAKER: No I'm going to the Hon Mark Mitchell.Hon Mark Mitchell: Have front-line police officers expressed to the police Minister that they don't feel like they're receiving reinforcements on the front line?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: No.Hon Stuart Nash: Is it true that the new policing model actually means that there are more police out in our communities solving crime and preventing crime as opposed to sitting in police stations filling in paper?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: That's exactly right. And I'd also like to point out that with additional staff we're able to support the front line. Under National we had a sinking lid on non-sworn as well as sworn which meant that you had sworn officers doing the work of answering emails. I consider that to be not a good use of Police resource.Hon Mark Mitchell: Why is the police Minister not aware of the fact that police officers in stations in rural and provincial locations are losing or haven't gained any additional police officers at a time when they need them most?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: I've provided the information that each police district in New Zealand has received additional police officers. In addition to that Auckland has received more for an Auckland hub to be created for coordinating responses and we have more in Wellington on top of that to make sure that police recruits—the new 1800 by the end of next month—are trained and deployed.Hon Mark Mitchell: Has the police Minister having talked to the front line and been engaged with them worked out that with a 33 percent increase in violent crime with a 41 percent increase in victimisations with over a 500 percent increase in ram raids and with a 60 percent increase in mental health call-outs 1800 police is going nowhere near to meeting the demand that they're currently having to deal with?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: I engage regularly with the front line and I've visited districts right across New Zealand. It's been interesting to learn that increases in acts to intend to cause injury is strongly influenced by an increase in reporting assaults by victims of family harm. The increase in reporting of assaults at family harm events follows the introduction of two new offences: assault on a person in a family relationship and impedes breathing which is strangulation or suffocation. Those were introduced under this Government in 2018 as a way of addressing family harm. These two offences now represent 70 percent of all acts-intended-to-cause-injury offences reported to police. Many of these offences were previously not reported. I stand by and am proud of a Government that wants family harm to be reported and addressed within our community."