2. Crime—Dairy Robberies and Youth JusticeDARROCH BALL (NZ First) to the Minister of PoliceCrime—Dairy Robberies and Youth Justice2. DARROCH BALL (NZ First) to the Minister of Police: What does she believe is the cause of the recent increase of violent robberies of dairies?Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Children) on behalf of the Minister of Police: Young thugs who think it is OK to bash and rob hard-working New Zealanders.Darroch Ball: Should dairy owners have to worry about their safety and security selling legal products; or does she agree with Nicky Wagner that they should not sell cigarettes if they do not want to get robbed?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: First of all that is not what the Hon Nicky Wagner said and no I do not believe that dairy owners should be at risk of being beaten and robbed when they are selling legal products.Darroch Ball: What does she say to Sunny Kaushal from Crime Prevention Group when he says of her announcement of $1.8 million to protect high-risk businesses: It's too little too late and their focus should be on the criminals and not on the shop owner."?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I am sure that that gentleman would be well aware of the fact that the announcement today is very welcomed by the dairy owners and the wider community but also that the police have been putting in a tremendous amount of work with extra foot patrols with visits to dairies and with community meetings to ensure that we are addressing both parts of this issue.Dr Parmjeet Parmar: What else is the Government doing to address aggravated robberies of dairies?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: This afternoon the Government announced a $1.8 million fund to help improve security in small individually owned businesses such as dairies and superettes. This is a practical measure that will make a real difference to some of the most at-risk businesses. In addition earlier this year the Prime Minister announced a significant boost to police numbers with 880 new police being recruited to fight crime across the board. Of those police officers 236 will be going into Auckland which has experienced the bulk of the aggravated robberies.Darroch Ball: Does she not see that the youth justice system is too lenient on young offenders given almost half of all those robberies are committed by 15- to 19-year-olds who continue to blatantly reoffend?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Well as usual the member mixes up the facts. [Interruption] Yes he does all of the time. Aggravated robbery is a serious offence that carries a sentence of up to 14 years in prison so it is not a slap on the wrist as that member has described it.Darroch Ball: I seek leave to table a document that was compiled by the Parliamentary Library which gives police statistics that show that almost half of all of those robberies are committed by 15- to 19-year-olds and that there is a decrease in convictions in court for that same age group.Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that particular information which will have been sourced from the Parliamentary Library. Is there any objection to it being tabled? There is objection. Further supplementary question? Supplementary question—[Interruption] Order! [Interruption] Order! Mr Mark please control yourself.Darroch Ball: Now that is typical. Does she agree that but for the increase in tobacco taxes and the cotton-wool youth justice system she would not have to announce a knee-jerk reactive million-dollar spend on dairy security?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Again that member is trivialising what is a very serious situation and a very complex situation. It is not as simple as cigarettes. If the member had done any research he would have found that in fact these are robberies that are spur of the moment—the violence is spur of the moment. Cigarettes cash and other things are taken so to blame one particular item itself shows that member's lack of understanding of exactly what is happening in these dairies."