7. Question No. 7—PoliceHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 7—Police7. Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement I reject the premise that gang tensions have increased under this Government's watch"?Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Justice) on behalf of the Minister of Police: I stand by the full context of my full statement which was since the arrival of the 501s in 2015 the nature of gangs has fundamentally changed making them much more overt and sophisticated. When this Government took office two years later we got to work giving the police the tools they need to deal with these threats. We have more police than any other Government in this country's history we've banned assault weapons and introduced firearm protection orders we've introduced legislation to hit organised criminals where it hurts—their pockets—so they don't benefit from dirty money and we're running the resilience to organised crime programme to work with communities to address the harms and drivers of organised crime.Hon Mark Mitchell: Is Operation Cobalt an admission from the Government that gang violence is out of control?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: No; it's an admission from this Government that the extra resourcing that we put into policing allows us to make sure that we tackle gang issues. Hon Mark Mitchell: Why has the Government waited so long to take enforcement action against gangs and announced a task force similar to Strike Force Raptor an idea the Government mocked three years ago?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I acknowledge the departure of the former member for Tauranga Simon Bridges who was the original author of Strike Force Raptor. The Government didn't obviously take up the offer from the Opposition to take up that. What we like to do is make sure we're resourcing the police properly. That has been seen through the success of Operation Tauwhiro and also as the member points out the police action that will take place under Operation Cobalt. This Government has resourced the police properly which has ensured that we've got 1400 more police. Because of the parliamentary system I'm able to be here as Minister of Police answering this question and also to be at the Royal New Zealand Police College in the great city of Porirua to welcome the graduates of Wing 353—71 more recruits for our front line. Hon Mark Mitchell: If this Government has resourced the police properly why are we seeing such a massive increase in gang violence?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Well I think the member should have listened to the answer to the first question around the issues that have come about since the gang 501s have arrived. I'd also point out that while this Government has increased police resourcing in the 4½ years that we've been in power between 2013 and 2014 I believe that police numbers on the front line dropped 300. Our Government is committed to making sure we back the front line as opposed to the previous National Government that talked a big game and let numbers go down. Hon Stuart Nash: Is the Minister aware of any party in this House that voted against this Government's legislation that legislated for greater penalties for gun crime?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I do—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The Minister is not responsible for how the parties vote. Hon Mark Mitchell: Have gang tensions increased or decreased under this Government?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I think what is important is if communities do have concerns about gang tensions in their community that the Government is making sure we are resourcing police to tackle it. We've talked about Operation Tauwhiro. I'd also like to—Hon Mark Mitchell: Point of order Mr Speaker. It was a very clear short and concise question and the—DEPUTY SPEAKER: And he hadn't even answered it so it'd be really helpful to hear the—Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki: Listen up.Kieran McAnulty: Start again.DEPUTY SPEAKER: As I was saying it would be really helpful to hear the whole answer and then I can make a judgment on that. Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Before I was interrupted I was just going to refer to Operation Weirton which took place earlier this year which took 600 kilograms of meth off our streets; took $7 million dollars of assets of which $1 million was in one single bank account; and undertook several arrests. Again because we've got resourcing we're making sure we're tackling organised crime. Hon Mark Mitchell: Point of order Mr Speaker. Can I ask that question again please? He hasn't answered it. It was a very short and concise question.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes and it's been addressed. If you have supplementaries to use then absolutely you can ask it again. Dr Duncan Webb: In respect of police resourcing of gangs does the Minister think the 71 new officers graduating at 2 p.m. today will be of assistance there and is he aware of any other graduates in the past period of this Government?DEPUTY SPEAKER: In so far as it relates to the primary question the Minister can answer. Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Well there are obviously 1400 over the last 4½ years which we're extremely proud of and obviously the Minister is representing the Government at the graduation today. We'd like to congratulate the 71 new members of the constabulary who will be joining the front line soon."