King MattMATT KING (National—Northland): It's a pleasure to take a second call on this. I'd like to acknowledge the Hon Stuart Nash. I'm actually quite heartened to hear some of his language about the police being an ex-police officer. I think he's going to be almost as good as the Hon Judith Collins in the role. He talks about having an extra 1800 police and I hope—I hope and I pray—that that's what's going to happen. During the election campaign they promised 1800 and the language has changed now to strive towards". I really do hope that that's the number they get to.I want to talk about what Darroch Ball talked about earlier. Previously I talked about the police in a good light because I wanted to acknowledge them much like Stuart Nash did and the good job that they do. I never put forward that they were doing a brilliant job; I'm just saying that they don't get the acknowledgment and I was praising them because that's what I felt was the right thing to do.So the language has changed and it's now "strive towards". I see that's in the document. Well what's going to happen when you get 1800 new police—you actually have to have 3000 new recruits to account for the natural attrition and 3000 new recruits is one hell of an ask over three or four years whichever Government's in.If you talk about funding and resourcing they've got to have vehicles they've got to have radios they've got to have laptops—they've got to have everything that comes; it's not just a bum on a seat. So there's a hell of a lot of cost. I make no apologies on our side for looking at the dollars and actually being realistic about how much it's going to cost. It's going to cost a lot more than what you're allowing for.I remember as a hard-working detective in Kaikohe in the mid-2000s under a Labour Government I had a stack of serious crime files on my desk. There were four detectives in our office and we had one car with 180000 kilometres on the clock.Chris Bishop: And a few king-hits.MATT KING: Ha! Talk about under-resourcing; we were begging for resources—four qualified detectives doing their best in one car. You've got to have bums on seats but you've got to have the resourcing to go with it. So like I say I hope the Hon Stuart Nash delivers on his promise; I really do. I genuinely believe that.In terms of lowering standards I see the physical competence test has changed in that if you're weak in one area and you're strong in another they can carry across like carrying across credits. That is a lowering of standards by another name; it absolutely is. You don't get to choose when you're chasing an offender whether you've got to climb a fence or swim through a river. You don't get to say "Oh well I'm good at one but I can't do the other." You've got to do it all. So like I say I hope that they get where they want to. I also recall that just having a bum on a seat—it needs the back up of resourcing but I would have forgone a pay rise in my day to have an extra one or two people to share the load. So 1800 police—I wish you all the best.Now I'd like to acknowledge the men and women that work in the New Zealand Police. They do a great job. It's a hard job and I say to them that as long as I'm in Parliament they have a friend in this House. Thank you."