Young JonathanJONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth): I would like to just first acknowledge the Ministers in the Justice Sector: Attorney-General the Hon Christopher Finlayson the Hon Amy Adams and also the Hon Judith Collins who have presented to various committees the appropriations. I want to speak regarding the Police vote. We have seen a 2.8 percent increase in funding which has seen significant allocations including 24 percent of the vote for investigation 24 percent of the vote for police primary response management and 19 percent of the vote for road safety programmes. It is good to note that the police public satisfaction percentage has grown to 78 percent targeting 80 percent. And so we see—[Interruption] The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! I am just going to interrupt the member for a second and ask the member who is on my left—I sort of ordered him last time but I now want to make it very clear that he cannot interject a person's first name across the Chamber. He is in the habit of doing it and he has been doing it repeatedly tonight. JONATHAN YOUNG: Yes thank you Mr Chair. We know that in 2009 we saw an increase in police officers of 600 across the country—300 in the Counties Manukau area. Even though the numbers have been static in recent years the Commissioner of Police reported to us that there have been compared with 4 years ago 150000 more vehicle stops and between 82000 and 84000 more foot patrols each year. So this is evidence of the greater efficiency of the New Zealand Police serving the New Zealand community which is why the satisfaction levels are so high. I want today to just congratulate Commissioner Mike Bush on his reappointment as commissioner. I believe that he serves this country admirably and we look forward to his continued leadership in this sector.The reason why efficiencies are improving—and that is a good thing—is the use of technology and mobile policing is a very important part of what the police do to achieve huge productivity gains. When mobile technology was first introduced it resulted in productivity gains for front-line police of 30 minutes per shift. That has exponentially increased since then and will continue to be rolled out. One of the technologies that the Commissioner of Police reported was the trialling of video devices particularly those recording victim and witness statements. This is creating a far more effective means of recording evidence. Witnesses are less likely to retract their statements due to perhaps intimidation—especially in domestic violence situations—and so we can look forward to getting greater responses of convictions in those situations than we have seen in the past. This is part of what the Government is doing in terms of its resourcing of the New Zealand Police in order to see greater effectiveness and greater justice being built in our country. I want to just very briefly touch on the $16.2 million that has been allocated to restorative justice providers. This is a very very important part of our justice programme. Restorative justice conferences allow victims and offenders to meet in a safe environment and discuss the crime and the harm it has caused. It is not just about bringing justice to the perpetrator of crime. We understand that crime harms people and it is bringing resolution to the harm that occurs. At times the victims are able to confront the perpetrator of the crime and often resolution occurs and sometimes there is a transformational effect that takes place. This is part of why crime is decreasing. As the Minister said not too long ago there have been 26 percent fewer offences per offender for those people who have gone through the restorative justice process and that is a good thing. We are investing $837 million over the next 4 years in the justice sector and our belief is that investment in law and order underpins our commitment to delivering core services to keep New Zealanders safe to hold criminals to account and to provide better access to justice. I believe that we are achieving great results. Of course there is always pressure—there is always criminal activity—but we have a fit for purpose police force that we can be proud of. There would be very few that would be any better in the world and we thank you very much for the opportunity to take this time to just acknowledge that.