3. Question No. 3—PoliceTAMATHA PAUL (Green—Wellington Central) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 3—Police3. TAMATHA PAUL (Green—Wellington Central) to the Minister of Police: Does he stand by his statement that he doesn't think there is systemic bias in the police at all" and if so how does he explain findings released by the Police that being Māori makes you 11 percent more likely to be prosecuted compared to Pākehā for the same offence?Hon MARK MITCHELL (Minister of Police): Yes I do. Our police do outstanding work every day in holding offenders to account. I do not believe that there is systemic racism or bias in the New Zealand Police. It is not for me to explain the report she mentions. However for the member's benefit I draw her attention to one of the conclusions of the authors of the report which was that this is not conclusive evidence of conscious or unconscious bias against males or Māori. The member should also note that according to the New Zealand Crime & Victim Survey in 2023 Māori adults were almost 60 percent more likely to experience violent crime than the national average and more than twice as likely to be highly victimised.Tamatha Paul: If systemic bias or systemic racism doesn't exist within the police then why were the police systematically stopping rangatahi Māori and taking tens of thousands of illegal photos of them?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Well I'm just going to restate for the member that we have got a world-class police service—men and women in our community that do an outstanding job that stand up every day to protect the communities that they live in and that they serve. I don't believe or accept for one minute that there is systemic racism or bias in our police service. Again that report is the commissioner's report and he can speak to it.Tamatha Paul: Can the Minister please explain what systemic bias is?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Sorry; can you repeat the question? Was it a question for me to—SPEAKER: Well just a moment—just hang on sorry. With all due respect the police Minister has got a lot of things in his portfolio but giving an answer of that type is not one of them. The member should rephrase the question—without loss of it.Steve Abel: Point of order Mr Speaker. I believe the Minister's saying there is no systemic bias so surely he must know what systemic bias is—that seems like a pretty reasonable question.SPEAKER: Yeah that might be the case but the question was asked on its own without any reference to the main question. I'm asking the member to redo the question not lose the question.Tamatha Paul: In response to the Minister's comments that he doesn't "think there is systemic bias in the police at all" can the Minister please explain what systemic bias is?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Well systemic bias is bias that's systemic.Tamatha Paul: How does he explain the fact that Māori are more likely to be exposed to police intervention throughout their life than non-Māori?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Look all that I'd say to the member—and I've said this before—is that the police do not get to choose who they deal with in terms of offending; society decides that. I'm extremely proud of our police service. I think that they do the best to respond to the very difficult circumstances they're currently operating in because they're trying to get on top of a massive growth of violent crime in our country. In my view there is not systemic bias or racism in our police. I think that if there was an individual case where it's obvious that there is some bias or some racism then I would expect the police to take swift action on that. But to suggest that there is systemic bias and racism in our police—I completely reject that.Hon Nicole McKee: Does the Minister agree that people who commit crimes should face the consequences of their actions regardless of their ethnicity and if so what actions has this Government taken to ensure that criminals face the consequences of their crimes?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Yes—yes I do agree with that. The Government is working extremely hard to restore law and order and make sure that consequences match the seriousness of the offending. I'm pleased to see that the Minister is strengthening firearms prohibition orders to ensure police have more powers to get guns out of the hands of gang members and bringing back three strikes. I'd also highlight the sentencing reforms being championed by the Minister of Justice.Tamatha Paul: Why is he refusing to acknowledge the findings of the report when the Police Commissioner himself has accepted the findings and has committed to building that trust in the communities?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Well I think the member just answered her own question. This was a report that was commissioned several years ago. It is the commissioner's report—it's not my report—and it's for the commissioner to speak to.Tamatha Paul: What actions will he take to eliminate systemic bias that was identified within the report acknowledging that it is not a reflection on individual officers but the system that they work within across New Zealand's policing system?Hon MARK MITCHELL: As the Minister of Police I'll continue to support our police service in making sure that they have got the resources the support the legislation and the powers that they need to be able to keep our country safe."