12. Question No. 12—PoliceSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 12—Police12. SIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga) to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement when referring to an interview with Harry Tam about the funding granted to his organisation that It sounded like a recruitment drive for the gangs"; if so has she expressed any concern about this to the Prime Minister?Hon POTO WILLIAMS (Minister of Police): Meitaki maata e Vaa Tuatua. In a rare misstep for that member he has taken my quote out of context! I was commenting on an interview with Harry Tam where he failed to talk about the harm that's caused to women and children who try to escape gangs and where he failed to talk about the harm that meth causes to communities. That's what I have expressed to the Prime Minister and to this House—that we can't simply arrest our way to success. That's why this Government will always be tough on crime and tough on the drivers of crime. The programme the member refers to gets to people that other drug rehabilitation services simply don't reach or can be effective with. This approach isn't new; it's based on a programme the National Government developed for the Notorious chapter of the Mongrel Mob.Simeon Brown: Does she think it is appropriate to grant $2.75 million to an organisation that is run by a Mongrel Mob member that she described as being on a recruitment drive for gang membership when gang membership has increased by over 50 percent under this Government?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: I've been very clear that the lead agency on this programme of—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member will resume her seat. Do members on this side want an answer?Hon Member: Yes.SPEAKER: Well if they do they will be quiet.Matt Doocey: Point of order Mr Speaker. A member of the Government interjected while Simeon Brown was asking the primary question and now you're pulling us up. How is that fair?SPEAKER: I had no trouble hearing Simeon Brown because his mike was on and all of us could hear him. The interjections were going right across the microphones into mine and interfering with the answer.Hon POTO WILLIAMS: I've been really clear that the lead agency on this work is the Ministry of Health and they are funding a programme that fundamentally works. It's been proven to work. We are not funding the gangs; we are funding a programme.Simeon Brown: Does she stand by her statement "gangs pedal meth meth destroys our communities" and if so was the Government wrong to sign off on $2.75 million to an organisation run by a lifetime Mongrel Mob member?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: I stand by my statement. Meth harms our communities. Gangs pedal meth. The Ministry of Health is the lead agency on a programme that works. We are funding the programme.Simeon Brown: Does she trust Harry Tam in light of her statement: "I'm sure gangs pedal meth and they do that by recruiting young people" and if so does she agree it is in the interests of gangs to keep people addicted to meth?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: We are talking about wanting to disrupt the harm that gangs do to our communities. They entice they encourage young people into gangs and this Government is working damn hard to ensure that there are exit points for our young people to get out of the gangs.SPEAKER: Order! Order! The time for oral questions is concluded. I have received a letter from David Seymour seeking to debate under Standing Order 399 the actions and comments of the Minister of Education regarding special-needs education in public schools. This is a particular case of recent occurrence—Simeon Brown: Point of order.SPEAKER: The member can't possibly have a point of order relating to this.Simeon Brown: I've got one more supplementary.SPEAKER: Sorry?Simeon Brown: I've got one more supplementary. SPEAKER: Well I apologise; the member does have one. I probably thought I should have taken one away but I'll keep going.Simeon Brown: Thank you Mr Speaker. What does she say to Police Association president Chris Cahill who likened this funding to money laundering saying "Police take $2m of dirty money—as they recently did from the Notorious chapter of the Mongrel Mob—"SPEAKER: The member's question's completed. Hon POTO WILLIAMS: I have a lot of respect for the work Chris Cahill does for the Police Association and I agree with him on many topics including front-line safety improvement programmes which keep our police safe because they do a really difficult job keeping our communities safe. However I will reiterate we spent money on a programme led by the Ministry of Health. This programme supports those people to get out of their addictions to meth. We are funding a programme; we are not funding the gang.Chris Bishop: Point of order. I just want to query why you cut off my colleague's question—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. It's not up to me to educate the member on the Standing Orders at this time."