12. Question No. 12—PoliceHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 12—Police12. Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of Police: Does she agree with the Police Commissioner's statement No retail worker or customer should experience fear or trauma when going about their day-to-day activities"; if so is she satisfied with the level of crime at retail premises?Hon POTO WILLIAMS (Minister of Police): Firstly can I ask all members of this House to congratulate our fantastic police on the magnificent efforts they have done over the last three days to keep us safe. In response to Mr Mitchell's question yes I also agree with Commissioner Coster's statement that we have heard Retail NZ's concerns and see this as a real opportunity to work in partnership to address them. That is why New Zealand Police has announced the establishment of a National Retail Investigation Support Unit. The establishment of this new unit is in direct response to the concerns raised by retailers regarding the level of crime that they have been seeing. I'm satisfied that this initiative is a clear solution that will complement other front-line responses and prevention initiatives Police already provide. This initiative will complement the additional number of police we have on the beat which has grown by 15 percent under this Government.Hon Mark Mitchell: What is her response to figures released today under the Official Information Act to the Dairy and Business Owners Group that show that retail crime and theft has increased by 25.7 percent and 32.3 respectively since Labour came into office?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: That is precisely why the commissioner has put in place the National Retail Investigation Support Unit. It's true that we have seen a rise in retail crime and that's exactly why we've launched the unit—to address the issue. We've also rolled out nearly 1000 fog cannons in small businesses and put more police on the beat to prevent crime before it happens. Hon Mark Mitchell: What is her response to comments from retailers who are saying that the situation is getting worse because police are so stretched that they're unable to attend incidents? Hon POTO WILLIAMS: I refute part of that question because we have done a fantastic job on this side of the House to support and resource police. Let's not forget that we've increased police by 15 percent under this Government. Let's compare that to National's record. Now under National police numbers fell. We are committed to putting more people on the beat to work directly with our retailers to ensure that they deal with crime. Hon Mark Mitchell: How does she explain a significant increase in retail crime but a reduction of over 60 percent in arrests made since Labour came into office? Hon POTO WILLIAMS: What I can say is that the commissioner has launched a retail investigation unit to make sure that we deal with this issue. I find it absolutely astonishing that that National Party can be lecturing us on the work that we are doing to support the police. Let's not forget the stat—the fun fact—that under National they had an attrition rate of police of 5.3 percent—police numbers fell. The way to deal with crime is to have cops on the beat—15 percent more under us.DEPUTY SPEAKER: That concludes oral questions.Hon Mark Mitchell: Point of order Mr Speaker. That came nowhere close to giving a straight answer to what was a very clear and succinct question: how does she explain a significant increase in retail crime but a reduction of over 60 percent in arrests made?DEPUTY SPEAKER: I believe she addressed the question. That concludes oral—Hon Simon Bridges: Point of order Mr Speaker. I mean I thought it was unbecoming. She gave us a "fun fact" rather than answer the question. Well did you hear—it was a fun fact. She didn't even try and answer the question.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes well members can have their own opinions about the responses but—[Interruption] We'll move on to the next order of business."