King Annette: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
King Annette: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:630;Page:2437] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Police) 
: 
 Can I thank the member for Whanganui for his contribution in the financial review of Vote Police and—as he knows—I have already congratulated the new Commissioner of Police Howard Broad. I was interested to learn that the member was in the same wing as both Rob Pope and Howard Broad and certainly I can be assured of his support for both those two men in their future roles. 
I begin by thanking the retired Commissioner of Police Rob Robinson who picked up the role at a very difficult time soon after we became the Government when he needed to address a number of issues. In particular issues of a historic nature had arisen and I will not say any more about those at this point but there were also a number of issues arising from the Martin review of the late 1990s which saw police resources being removed as the police were asked to pay for the INCIS mistake of the previous National Government. I know that Chester Borrows would have been at the sharp end of those cuts in police numbers back in the 1990s. 
I want to say how pleased I am to have the new Commissioner of Police Howard Broad in place. I think he will make a very fine commissioner. He has a background of 30 years of policing including community policing and of being the district commander in Auckland where he has had a lot of experience in terms of front-line policing but also his very reasoned approach to strategy and policy will I think be very good going forward. 
Rob Pope also has 30 years of experience with the police. I assume that Chester Borrows if he had stayed in the force would have had 30 years of experience now as well. So the member brings to this House those years that he has had in the force and I was pleased to see today that he was agreeing with comments I was making. Doing that probably got him into trouble with his front bench but I believe he will perform in an honest manner in this House with the knowledge of policing he has. But I think that Rob Pope who has 30 years’ experience of policing has spent many years in the Criminal Investigation Bureau and who is now responsible for operational matters will be a good fit with our new commissioner as will Lyn Provost who has been reappointed. Lyn Provost’s responsibilities are in the area of resources. I would also like to put on record my thanks to acting commissioner Steve Long who retires on 7 April for a very fine police career and for carrying us through the last few months after Rob Robinson retired. 
The member expressed a little sorrow I think that I have not managed to bring police confidence back up to high levels in the 5 months I have been in the job. I assure the member that I am working very hard on that matter. I am spending my time out on the front line working with police— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: And loving it. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: —and loving it—and the main thing the police do need is the support and at times the accolades they deserve for the job they do on behalf of New Zealanders day and night. One of the things that really gets to them is to hear only the whingeing and moaning about what they do. They ask where the thanks and the gratitude are for a job most of us would not want to do because it is a difficult and hard job. I want to put on record my thanks for the work the New Zealand Police do. We have one of the finest police forces in the world. We are the envy of many countries because of the integrity of our police and because we are a country that is pretty much free of corruption within our police—something that even across the Tasman they sometimes have struggled with. So I want to encourage our police. I want to help in terms of the confidence that they need to engender in the public and I think they are well on the way to doing that. 
I am very pleased to work with New Zealand First in relation to the 1000 extra sworn police and I need to say to the member for Whanganui that there was no dispute between New Zealand First and the Government around the numbers of new police. What we had to work out was what would support 1000 sworn police because—as the member will know—when we bring in extra police but we do not back them up with non-sworn police we put huge pressure on those on the front line. If we do not give them cars accommodation or even handcuffs we put huge pressure on the police to be able to perform. One of the big problems in the early 1990s when John Banks became the Minister of Police was that he brought in extra police all right but none of the resources to go with the police to enable them to carry out their role—and the police lived with that situation for years trying to overcome that shortfall in financing. 
So I am pleased to say that through the good work of New Zealand First members who have worked with the Government in a very constructive manner we will have 1000 more sworn police in New Zealand plus 250 non-sworn police to back them up and I can assure the member that that will happen. That promise was made; that promise will be undertaken. 
In conclusion I say that I am very pleased with the work of the New Zealand Police but they can always do better. They can always do better and they want to do better. Of course we would want to have as little crime as possible but what really concerns me when I look at crime statistics is that the big increase in violent crime is coming from family violence—domestic violence. That is an issue for all of us to face. Judge Boshier said that this is a scourge of our society that requires the response of the whole community. It does not require a police officer outside the door of every home; it requires the collective responsibility of New Zealanders. This is a crime that we do not have to have. It is happening in our homes and to our families and there needs to be a greater response from all of us. I support the work of the police. They are doing very good work with other agencies in addressing family violence. 
I do not have time now to go through all the work that is being done in an area like Counties-Manukau but the police are really working hard there knowing that family violence is one of the biggest issues they have in terms of reported crime. 
So I thank the member for his contribution and I am very pleased with the work the Law and Order Committee did in terms of its financial review of Vote Police. 
Report noted.