Mitchell MarkHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa): Thank you Mr Chair. There's a few issues raised there by the chair of the committee that I'd like to address. But firstly I'd just like to say that every day in this House or when we're here when we're sitting we keep hearing from the Government the great news story in terms of investment and numbers and all the rest of it but the reality is this: a 21 percent increase in violent crime since 2017.Nationally police priority one and priority two responses where it's required to have a police response are up by 90 percent at 48 minutes. Auckland City response times are up one hour and 49 minutes—almost two hours. Retail crime is up 25.7 percent. You would have seen a lot in the media in the last few days about just how tough our retailers and our shopkeepers are doing it having to deal with ram raids and violent robberies on a daily basis. Theft at retail premises is up like I said at 32.2 percent. In 2017 there were 267 assaults reported on police; in 2021 there were 433 reported. That's a 62.2 percent increase in assaults on police and by the way that number is under-reported because I can tell you right now that there are police officers going out doing their job protecting our communities being assaulted on a daily basis. You know what the sad thing is? They've just come to accept that as part of their daily duties and work life and they shouldn't. They shouldn't have to be desensitised. They shouldn't have to be accepting the fact that they're going to be assaulted when they go to work but these numbers are indicative: a 62.2 percent rise on assault against police officers in the last three years. Operation Tauwhiro—what can I say about Operation Tauwhiro? I'd like the Minister to get up and actually tell us in detail exactly what Operation Tauwhiro is about. The Government came out very publicly in their response to a lot of pressure coming on them around the rise in gang numbers and the rise in gang crime and they said Our response is Operation Tauwhiro." and I'll tell you what the general public thought that that was some sort of dedicated task force that was going to be focused on targeting gangs search warrants and removing firearms. But you know what it's all smoke and mirrors. It's what's called a Clayton's operation—an operation when you haven't got an operation—because what they've done is they've gone out and they've spoken to every single front-line police officer and they've said "If you have an interaction with a gang member or you happen to retrieve a firearm or you execute a warrant we want you do record that against Operation Tauwhiro." So Minister of Police get up in this House and explain to us because that's deceptive.I'll tell you what I was talking to two front-line police officers last night who are right on the front line. They're dealing with gangs they're recovering firearms and they're at the pointy end when they're doing the warrants and they had no idea. They had not been briefed that they were any part of Operation Tauwhiro. They had no idea that any of the hard work that they were doing and the jobs that they were recording were being captured in this fake "Clayton's Operation Tauwhiro". They felt that it was deceptive and these are front-line police officers.So the Minister today in the House has wanted me to acknowledge and take note of the fact that her COVID mask has got the Police insignia on it. I'm going to do that but I'm going to say to you Minister that's a privilege. That's a privilege to have that Police insignia and I'll tell you right now if you want some honest feedback the front line at the moment needs some strong leadership not just politically but from the Commissioner of Police and his team as well to make the streets out there safer for them and for the public that they swear to come out and protect.Minister I want you to get up in this Chamber and I want you to explain to all of us why all of these measures that actually we use to understand and measure just how safe it is in New Zealand how safe people are going about their daily business how safe our shopkeepers feel when they go and open their doors—stand up in this Chamber and tell us again that there's been no rise in gang tensions in New Zealand that your numbers are working that your investment is working and that the police aren't buckling under the strain of very poor policy settings by this Government. They're supposed to deal with it. You've emptied the prison muster by 4000. Are you telling me there were 4000 prisoners ready to be integrated back into the community and that they didn't come back out and rejoin gangs and start committing crime again? The police have to deal with that bad policy setting.Minister you stood in this House and when I asked you about a 60 percent drop in conviction rates on retail crime you said "Oh because we're looking for alternative actions." Well what does that mean? Get up and stand in this House and tell us what "alternative actions" means because I'll tell you what it means for the front line. For that thin blue line it is that they're out there on a Friday night making arrests taking offenders off the street and they're back out there on the Saturday night dealing with the same offenders. So get up and explain to us alternative actions.Get up and explain to us what the Minister is doing about the fact that the youth justice system is unable to cope with a tsunami of juvenile offending. In Auckland City two nights ago there were five ram raids. We had an 11-year-old failing to stop and the problem is this: none of us wants to see our kids out there being involved in crime and starting to move into that criminal justice system. That's the big social investment piece that we have to work on. You as a Minister and our police service have to deal with the crunchy challenge that sits in front of you right now. But I can tell you that an 11-year-old driving a vehicle speeding through the streets of Auckland ram-raiding shops is just as likely to kill an innocent member of the public or a member of the police as a 30-year-old gang member is. So our police at the moment are buckling under the strain of trying to deal with a wave of youth offenders that they're trying to take action with on a Friday night and they're back out doing ram raids stealing cars and by the way posting it on social media because now that's the cool thing to do. The police are having to deal with that. So what are you doing Minister to support them other than making a big bold announcement with Operation Tauwhiro? Be honest with the public. Be honest with New Zealand. Operation Tauwhiro is nothing but business as usual under a thin blue line that's actually being stretched almost to breaking point because of the very poor policy settings of this Government.By the way the Minister keeps standing up in this House and attacking me saying that I'm attacking the police. That's insulting because you know what Minister? The front line actually know that I have genuinely got their back. They know that I understand what is happening. They know that I'm in touch with what they are having to deal with on a daily basis. Let me make it very clear in the House: I'm not attacking our police. Our police force is the best in the world and the police agency—and the chair of the select committee said this in her opening statement with the Auditor-General's report—is one of the best-performing agencies. Absolutely they are. They're an incredible agency that provide an amazing service to us as a country. But let me make one thing very clear Minister: I'm not attacking our police service or our front line. I'm holding you—and by the way it's not personal. It's a privilege to be the Minister of Police. I'm holding you as the Minister to account and I'm holding the Government to account. It's your actions or lack of them and it's the Government's actions or lack of them that the front line is having to deal with and that's the reality of it.So Minister I'll yield to you and I'll allow you to stand in the House and explain to us exactly how Operation Tauwhiro is working. Explain to us why under your watch you've allowed violent crime to increase by 21 percent. I'd like you to explain to me why we had Detective Superintendent Greg Williams who does an outstanding job and is the leader of our national organised crime group—he's the guy on the front line. He's the guy that's responding to the gangs. Let me read to you a couple of quotes from him today: "It would have been easy for us to do a six-month operation to kick in doors and take guns." and historically that's what the police would do. They'd back themselves to do that. They'd have warrants they'd go to the addresses they'd use the good intelligence that they had and they'd actually take positive action and they'd start taking guns off the streets. "But" he said "the concern was around the kind of firepower the gangs have access to" and they're more willing to use them. How many times Minister do I have to stand in this House and try and get you to understand that actually gang tensions gang violence gang activity gang presence and gang intimidation has grown in this country Minister under your watch. So I'll yield now and allow the Minister to respond to the issues that I've raised for her."