Hawkins George: Budget Debate 
Hawkins George: Budget Debate 
[Volume:608;Page:6008] 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Minister of Police) 
: 
 It is quite interesting that Opposition members say that we should be giving tax cuts. The  
Sydney Morning Herald 
 dated Tuesday 20 May asked its readers whether they wanted a tax cut. Twenty percent said they did—20 percent always take it—and 70 percent said no that they wanted better services. That is what this Government is delivering. We are in touch with how people—[ 
Interruption 
] Of course that group over there is having its own troubles. We had good old Roger Sowry making a speech then Gerry Brownlee. They are competitors for the deputy leadership. 
 I tell Roger Sowry that he has almost gone. He is ineffective. I think Gerry Brownlee will get there. The other possibility is that Dr Brash will get there. However one thing is certain: Bill English’s time as leader of that party is really running out. The time for the brat pack has come and gone. Two of the brat pack have been demoted on the list and Roger Sowry is hanging on for all he is worth. Of course when he gets beaten by a young politician and is so comprehensively thrashed at the polls members of his party know they cannot keep him there. They know it and he knows it. His day is coming. Do they want a different leader? When I was in the deep south I talked to volunteer firefighters who told me that they had not seen Bill English for a long long time. They thought that was pretty good and they are glad he has shifted to Wellington. They do not want him back down there. 
The brat pack’s days are gone. They resort to all sorts of tactics. Tony Ryall the MP for the Bay of Plenty said in the  
Whakatane Beacon 
 on 13 May: “Recently I wrote to the local community groups to let them know that the Government was planning to centralise in Wellington the distribution of money collected from gaming machines.” Of course it was not. If members had turned up at the Lotteries Grants Board this morning they would know that he was wrong. We passed the budget today—but no they know that and they are running around the countryside spreading what they know is untrue. They know that that is not a fact. Of course people only do that when they do not have any hard information with which to attack the Government. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition does not get questions any more and Mr Brownlee gets up on points of order so he can keep his face prominent. I think that is quite interesting. One after the other he raises points of order that are not points of order at all—just so he can keep it there. 
I want to talk briefly about my own electorate and then I will talk about the police. Manurewa is very lucky because it has a member of Parliament who gets things for its constituents. At the moment we have a brand-new secondary school being built at Alfriston which is costing somewhere between $17 and $18 million. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: What’s it called? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: It is Alfriston High School. There is probably a job for Mr Brownlee there teaching woodwork if he would like to return to teaching—although we do have fairly high standards and he probably would not get the job. However Manuwera High School has a new technology block. James Cook High School has a new block being built. Manuwera Intermediate has new construction worth $2 million. 
Hon Georgina te Heuheu 
: What about the police? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: We will talk about the police in a minute. We are just getting on to the good news. We have a centre for young criminals being built—young criminals that other communities in this country do not want in their patch. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: Who approved it? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: The Labour Government approved the siting of it. That failed National Government as it was could not get a site for the centre but we have been able to. We will also have the women’s prison there because we take our responsibilities very seriously. We are getting two new fire stations and another new police station and I will tell members a bit about that in a minute. The people of Manurewa are very very happy which is pretty good. They are pleased that they are now in a primary health organisation because their doctors’ bills are going down. Instead of paying $35 or $40 to go to the doctor they are now paying $15 to $20—and boy that is money in people’s pockets! People can now go to the doctor and not worry how to pay for it. That is really good. 
One of the real sad things is the way members of this House are targeting the Asian community in terms of crime. I am very proud of the Asian community. Yes there are people in that community who commit crime but it is proportionate to the general population. Generally they are law-abiding people—but not always and there are high profile crimes that do get noticed by members who then play on them. I think New Zealand First members do so for political reasons so that they can make a point about the Asian community. They also do it in the areas of immigration and law and order and that is an absolute disgrace. But the good news is that crime is being handled really well in this country. Gone are the days of 1996 when there were 477596— 
Hon Member 
: How many? 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: I will repeat it: in 1996 the number of crimes reported to the police was 477596. In 2002 440129 crimes were reported to the police. That is a significant drop of some 30000 crimes. Yet we have people in ACT talking about parking tickets. They even talk about speeding tickets. Their leader got upset that 100 tickets were given in Taihape in 1 day. The fact is that the community wanted the police to work for them and clean up the speeding problem. That is really good news. Roading police in New Zealand do an excellent job. The highway patrol—something that this Government brought in—is having a real effect. The road toll is on a downward trend. The highway patrol is doing a good job. Everyone around the country sees those highly visible cars and knows what is happening. 
This Government is also really looking after Auckland. There are some 74 English police officers in training in Porirua who will be going to Auckland along with a whole pile of New Zealanders including some Asian people who are training to be police officers. There are large numbers of Maori Pacific Islanders and women in training. That is the police force changing and mirroring the whole community and it is something that this country has long awaited. We as a country are lucky to have a commissioner like Rob Robinson who is doing a fine job and who realises that police must reflect the community they work in. 
Various districts are working in cooperation with each other. The other night 170 police were out after boy racers and cleaning that situation up. Of course when that happens we see the members opposite whingeing and moaning as they are now. The members on the front bench opposite whinge and moan because they do not have anything to offer. People have told us that they have been able to get some sleep at night now that the “boy racer” bill has gone through. I congratulate Clayton Cosgrove on his efforts in that area.