Ryall Tony: Crimes and Misconduct (Overseas Operations) Bill — First Reading 
Ryall Tony: Crimes and Misconduct (Overseas Operations) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:610;Page:7579] 
Hon TONY RYALL (NZ National—Bay of Plenty) 
: 
 During the 10 minutes that Government members were allowed to speak a car was broken into in Auckland. Every 9 minutes a car in this country is burgled. Every 20 minutes a car is stolen. We have a massive shortage of New Zealand police on our streets. We have reports that one can wait 2 days before a police officer will ring one back about a burglary. We had a situation when a man crazed on methamphetamine robbed a pub in south Auckland; the man had to be reported to the police three times. Only when he slaughtered three people at the Returned Services Association in Panmure did the police do anything about it. 
That is the crisis of policing in this country today. The human cost is people’s lives. The human cost is the misery and disruption when a car is broken into every 9 minutes in this country under this Labour Government. What is the response of the Labour Government? “Let us send 40 of our most needed public servants to the Solomon Islands.”! I say this: it is all very well to put that as an issue of concern but let us not forget what is happening here at home. The Solomons is a very dangerous place. One needs the skill and expertise of a military force there; one needs more than the police. 
Those police officers should have stayed at home fixing crime and solving crime here in New Zealand. The situation is near crisis point. In Auckland only a few weeks ago there were 130 vacancies for front-line staff. What is the consequence of that? It basically means that car crime and much street crime are no longer being investigated. People in west Auckland whose cars have been broken into have been getting letters from the police saying: “Thanks for registering your complaint. We do not have the resources to investigate this complaint any more.” Information that was tabled in this House 2 or 3 weeks ago shows in parts of Auckland one is waiting in excess of 24 hours for a police officer to respond to a burglary complaint. Remember the Minister’s proud boast that someone would be there within half an hour? Well the reality for most people in Auckland and the rest of the country is that it is a very long time. 
In other parts of the country we have lawlessness driven by drug-crazed gangs. What is the Government’s solution? It is going to take police officers from the districts that are under pressure with gangs and send them to the Solomon Islands! The priority should be here at home. In parts of this country there is the dreadful situation of more and more violent crime coming from methamphetamine— 
David Benson-Pope 
: Is the member saying that the National Party would not help the Solomons? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I tell that member that in his city crime is out of control. The figures the Government will release at the end of this month will show an increase in violent crime in his city. It will show that the reduction in burglary has all but disappeared. It will show an increase in car conversion and car crime in this country. In fact one of the closest advisers of the Minister of Police told the media that car crime is an epidemic in this country. 
What are we going to do about it? Well the way that one fixes car crime is to have a strong police presence in the community. Sending 40 of our police officers to the Solomon Islands is no way to maintain a strong police presence in this community. That is why I tell this Labour Government that this is the least of its worries. I tell those members that 65000 New Zealanders have signed a petition that says they do not like the way Helen Clark and the Labour Government are dealing with the seabed and foreshore issue. Half a million New Zealanders will be given the opportunity to vote on whether that Government should be entitled to deal with the seabed and foreshore issue in the appalling way that it is doing. I say that that is the least of Labour members’ worries. 
Those police should be here in New Zealand maintaining law and order in our country because we have so many problems here. Let me tell members what the crime statistics will show at the end of August. They will show that violent crime is at its third record level in a row. So that is 3 years of increases in a row. It will show that car crime in parts of New Zealand has risen by up to 25 percent. It will show that in parts of Auckland less than one in 17 burglaries is solved. It will show that in parts of North Shore a car will be broken into every 9 minutes—as in the rest of the country. That is what the stats will show. One way to improve that is to have a much stronger police presence—and sending 40 police officers to the Solomons is not the answer. The Government though should be complimented on at least one small piece of consultation— 
David Benson-Pope 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. It is rather embarrassing to have to listen to this completely irrelevant attack on the Government’s policy on police when clearly the bill is about intervention in the Solomon Islands. The member should be ruled out of order 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Probably the best thing to do is ignore that silly little point of order. This bill does cover the police and the various responsibilities they will have under misconduct or neglect of duty and it is inherent in the bill that it is talking about the police team in the Solomon Islands. So it is quite legitimate for Opposition members to say about the Solomon Islands that we do not believe that this is the best use of the New Zealand police. We would rather have those officers here in New Zealand in this community reducing crime because it is out of control. The statistics at the end of this month will show that crime is out of control. 
The Government can do all it likes to try to argue that the New Zealand Police has not spent its budget so it has had plenty of opportunity to get money. That is the wimpiest argument I have ever heard. In fact this Government is underfunding the police. On a per-head of population basis the funding is dropping. There are fewer resources available and less effort is going into targeting the hot spots but that is desperately needed. The National Party says this Government cannot be relied upon or trusted to support the police in a way we would expect. If the Government really wanted to support the Solomons community by sending a strong New Zealand Police force it would not send only 40 officers. We have gang problems all around this country— 
David Benson-Pope 
: Why don’t we hear about National’s policy? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: We would have cops on the streets focusing on street crime—the stuff the Labour Government has given up on. We think it is unacceptable that in the 1 hour we have been debating this bill six cars will have been broken into and only one of those crimes will ever be solved. We think it is outrageous that in the 1 hour we have been debating this bill three cars will have been stolen and we will be lucky if one is ever returned to its owner. This is just not good enough because it is the sort of street crime that is getting out of control under this Labour Government. This side of the House says we need those police in our country because that is the most pressing concern of the communities that need to be assured there will be appropriate law enforcement for them.