12. Question No. 12—PoliceGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 12—Police12. GREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu) to the Minister of Police: What recent announcements has he made about improving public safety by restricting unlawful access to firearms?Hon STUART NASH (Minister of Police): Yesterday I announced the release of a public consultation document on firearm prohibition orders or FPOs. The FPOs seek to target our country's most violent and despicable criminals and the FPO regime will make sure that we further mitigate the risk of these people having any opportunity to be around or get access to firearms. FPOs would stop violent criminals from being around those who have firearms from using them under supervision or from having access to them. FPOs set conditions that these people have to follow and allows police to monitor the conditions and create penalties for the breaches. FPOs would come at a potential cost to the human rights protections such as the right to be secure against unreasonable search. That's why any such regime would need to be carefully balanced and that's why we want to hear from the public about where they think the line should be drawn. The consultation document is on the Police's website and submissions are open until Monday 13 January. Greg O'Connor: What reaction has he seen from those who work with victims of family harm? Hon STUART NASH: Police attend a family harm incident once every four minutes. In the year to September police responded to 128000 family harm incidents—an increase of 19 percent on the previous year. It is also estimated that police turn up to over 200 events a month where a firearm is involved. Rob McCann the manager of the White Ribbon campaign against violence to women said Firearm prohibition orders could make a real difference if guns are kept out of the hands of people with a history of family harm. … Firearm prohibition orders might also provide the peace of mind to help a victim leave a violent relationship. … Knowing that a partner was not able to possess or own a weapon might give someone the courage to get out and it might even save a life." Greg O'Connor: What advice has the Minister seen about previous proposals for firearm prohibition orders? Hon STUART NASH: I have seen some criticism that we are sitting on our hands and that we should not consult and that we should have supported a member's bill that would have introduced FPOs. However I quote from advice received from Police about the National Party member's bill: "The provisions in the bill are insufficient to meet its objectives of preventing gang members from possessing firearms." The Attorney-General at the time was also concerned that the bill included no explicit link between gang membership and relevant offences. The proposals we are consulting on would target people who are at most risk of causing significant harm through the criminal use of firearms. This applies whether a person is a member of a gang or not. Not all serious violent criminals wear patches.Hon Michael Woodhouse: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Can I ask the Minister if he was quoting from an official document and if so could that be tabled please?SPEAKER: Was the Minister quoting from an official document?Hon STUART NASH: No. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Order! It might surprise some members but some members prepare before they come to the House and come with briefing notes—you know it's not a bad habit."