Alexander Marc: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Alexander Marc: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:423;Page:18530] 
3.  
MARC ALEXANDER (United Future) 
 to the  
Minister of Justice 
: Is the Government planning additional measures to help the police combat the distribution of the new and more potent form of methamphetamine known as “crystal rock” by organised crime; if so what are those measures? 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 Yes a range of measures has already been taken in response to methamphetamine to counter the danger it poses. They include legislation to increase the penalties for trafficking in methamphetamine and strengthening the powers of the police and the Customs Service to deal with it. There has also been a huge boost in funding to crack down on the importation and manufacture of the drug. Other legislation in the pipeline includes a proceeds of crime bill to seize the assets of organised crime gangs and a misuse of drugs bill to prevent the importation of precursors. On the question of crystal rock the police and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research advise me that they do not regard crystal rock as chemically different from or more dangerous than P or other forms of crystal methamphetamine like ice which is already on the market. 
Marc Alexander 
: Is the Minister concerned about reports that gangs in some areas now have free rein because the police simply do not have the resources to monitor them—a fact highlighted only yesterday by the caravan park in Mangere that operated as a drug supermarket with impunity for years; if so does he agree that plans to strip gangs of their assets will be nothing but words on paper if the police are not given substantial resources now? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: No I do not agree with the member. The police have been given substantial resources. If the member takes his mind back to last year’s Budget he will find that $39 million was put into the police the Institute of Environmental Science and Research and the Customs Service to crack down on this awful drug. I also tell the member that the National Interception Centre which undertakes electronic intelligence aimed at organised crime and gang involvement in the drug trade has seen its staff increase from 13 to 31. That is a two-thirds increase in the number of staff aimed at cracking down on organised crime. The member simply cannot say that nothing is being done and that resources have not been put in. Patently they have been. 
Tim Barnett 
: What impact has the significant increase in Government funding had on cracking down on the trade in methamphetamine? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: It has had a huge impact and across the three departments I have talked about. First the police clan-lab teams that have been established have detected and closed down literally hundreds of those laboratories and there is some evidence now that manufacturing in New Zealand is in decline. Secondly the Customs Service has intercepted and seized record levels of methamphetamine. Thirdly the Institute of Environmental Science and Research which does the scientific analysis has now cleared up the backlog of its cases and is undertaking that analysis in real time. That is progress. 
Ron Mark 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. If one listens carefully to the exact wording of that Minister’s last two answers one can only conclude that he is reading directly from the Minister of Police’s portfolios. Everything he has been espousing is police policy and initiatives. It just suggests once again that either this man is rehearsing for the new appointments about to take place or the Government is slipping the defunct Minister out of the limelight. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That was not a point of order. In fact the Minister spent quite a lot of his answer talking about the Customs Service and other portfolios. 
Ron Mark 
: Two out of ten. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: My goodness the member is lucky. If I were to be strictly consistent he would be leaving the Chamber. I just happen to be feeling very generous today. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Has he expressed any concerns to the Minister of Police that those distributing crystal rock and other drugs could go completely undetected provided they do not break the Road Code now that the priority of the police is traffic enforcement; if not what is it about the leadership of the Minister of Police that gives him confidence that he can lead the police to defeat organised crime in this country? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: Contrary to the assertion that the member has just made is a quote from the assistant commissioner for crime reduction and public safety Peter Marshall. He said in response to that sort of attack on where their priorities were that they have a holistic and balanced approach to reducing crime. That includes violence drugs and road safety—right across the board. That is what the public would expect. 
Nandor Tanczos 
: Does the Minister have any real evidence that so-called crystal rock is becoming widespread compared with the current influx of cocaine for example and does he not agree that Government policy should be based on something more substantial than rumours in a police newsletter? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I can assure the member that our policy is not based on rumours in a police newsletter. I can also tell the member—and the information is available to him if he wishes to look at it—that the vast growth in drugs in this country has actually been in the methamphetamine area not the cocaine area or the marijuana area. 
Marc Alexander 
: Will the Minister support measures contained in my member’s bill that would reverse the onus of proof for gang members such that if the Crown can show that a gang member has been involved in serious criminal activity his or her assets will be presumed to be of criminal origins and therefore forfeited unless the person can prove otherwise; if not will the Minister replace the teeth I am suggesting with his rubber dentures? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: The last comment by the member is absurd. No I will not support his bill. His bill is based on the Western Australian model which has proven less effective than the civil forfeiture bill based on measures used in New South Wales the United Kingdom and Ireland that I have foreshadowed and will be introducing this year. That civil forfeiture bill will make a huge difference in seizing the assets of organised crime and criminal gangs and for that matter white-collar crime. 
Ron Mark 
: When the Government failed to approve the initial requests made by the police for extra meth-lab teams for extra staffing for drug investigations and for extra staffing for Intel all of which can be tabled first did the United Future party intervene and threaten to withdraw confidence from the Government if it failed to meet those requests immediately and second can the Minister give the House an assurance right now that no detectives engaged in anti-drug operations have been pulled from their duties to do road traffic policing duties during the tenure of this Government? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: In a moment I will seek the leave of the House to table exactly what went into dealing with organised crime and drugs in the last Budget because the answer is too long to talk about in the House. But I will touch on a couple of points. The Budget provided for a third 12-person police clan-lab team four chemical intelligence analysts another $17 million for the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd and a third 6-person surveillance team plus additional technical support. All of those things are addressing that problem. 
Ron Mark 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. In the interests of saving time I say that I asked the Minister about what the police asked for—not what the Government delivered but what the police asked for. Did United Future threaten to pull confidence? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister had just about finished his answer. I hope he gets there very promptly. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I have just told the member what the police asked for and what they have been given. Every department and every ministry that I am responsible for always asks for everything it would ideally like. In the real world they do not get everything but in this case the police the Institute of Environmental Science and Research and the Customs Service were treated very well. They were given the power to crack down on drug trafficking and organised crime and the member knows it. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Can the Minister tell the House how many hours the police have spent on traffic enforcement compared with the number of hours they have spent on trying to defeat organised crime? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I imagine that the hours that are spent relate to the volume of crime. The volume of crime that kills 400 people a year through drunken driving etc. is obviously higher than the volume of crime that results in people dying from drugs. But I can tell the member that the police are giving every priority to methamphetamine which the police the Institute of Environmental Science and Research the Customs Service and the Ministry of Justice all regard as a top priority.