Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19561] 
8.  
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does she still have confidence in her Minister of Police; if so why? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes; because he is a hard-working and conscientious Minister. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: If the Minister of Police is a hard-working and conscientious Minister and after all the attention that has been paid to 111 calls in relation to the incident where 100 patrons were present at the Lone Star Cafe in Newmarket at 8.40 p.m. on Easter Monday at the time that the establishment was being held up by three gangsters one with a sawn-off shotgun how long did it take the police to come the less than 1 kilometre from the Newmarket Police Station to the Lone Star Cafe in Newmarket? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I have no information about the Lone Star Cafe in Newmarket. The member will have to put down a question on notice. 
Dr Muriel Newman 
: Has the Prime Minister seen the report in this morning’s  
New Zealand Herald  
that a 111 call on Saturday night alerting the police to a dangerous confrontation in the suburb of Mount Roskill in Auckland was not acted on and that if another member of the public had not called 111 no patrol car would have been sent to that incident which has left two young men hospitalised one in a critical condition whereas if the first call had been properly responded to neither young man would be in hospital; if so given Mr Hawkins’ repeated assurances that the 111 system failures have been fixed could she remind the House exactly why she has confidence in the Minister of Police? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: My attention has been drawn to the  
Dominion Post  
report of the same incident. The police advise that an inquiry into this incident is taking place as well as of course the general inquiry going on into the 111 system. 
Marc Alexander 
: How can the Prime Minister continue to have confidence in a Minister who has overseen a staffing crisis in police communication centres to such a degree that for the first time since 2000-01 the number of staff leaving last year for example exceeded the number who had been recruited by 71 to 51? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Under the current Minister the number of people working in the police is up 1080 and the budget is up 19.7 percent. That is a very major contribution to ensuring that policing is effective. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Having regard to Mr Tamihere’s comments about the Prime Minister’s emotional make-up could she explain why it is fair to leave a Minister of Police without the resources to do the job—and that has been demonstrated on countless occasions—so that we have the tragic case in Auckland as reported in the  
New Zealand Herald  
today 
where a person may die; and why would we not advise the public that rather than call 111 they should just call this number? 
Gordon Copeland 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. Because part of that question was visual some people in this House have no idea what the question was. We would like also to see the number. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Would the member who asked the question like to complete the question for the listeners at home if for no one else. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: No. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No the member declines. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. With the greatest respect just because United Future gets up and says it wants an answer—I do not know why; it is probably for the first time in its history—is no reason for me to do that. I have no accountability in terms of parliamentary responsibility as a Minister; it is the Prime Minister whom I am talking to and she will know full well whose number that is. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Ruling on the point of order I say that the member does not have to explain his question any further. We accept that. I merely invited him to do so for the information not only of members in this House but also of those listening. Would the right honourable Prime Minister now address the question. 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: As I said in an earlier answer the police budget over five Budgets is up 19.7 percent. To address the member’s question I say that that is not leaving a Minister under-resourced. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: Does the Prime Minister stand by Mr Hawkins’ advice to this House on the number of unallocated cases at the various police districts? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I understand that the Minister came to the House last week and made a correction to those answers.