11. H V ROSS ROBERTSON (Labour—Manukau East) Link to this
to the Minister of Police
What progress has been made on police recruitment this year?
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Police) Link to this
According to the New Zealand Police, between 30 June and 31 August the number of sworn staff has increased by 76—21 more than was anticipated—and police numbers are more than 200 ahead of those at the same time last year. I have also received reports that more people are attending recruitment seminars, that more people are completing recruitment registration, and that the attrition rate is 4.7 per cent. As I have said, it will always be a challenge to recruit the 1,250 extra police staff, but so far, so good.
H V Ross Robertson Link to this
Can the Minister tell the House what other reports she has seen on police recruiting?
Over the past few months I have seen a number of media statements released by Simon Power, in which he has been endeavouring to undermine the recruitment campaign. His latest release was yesterday, in which he claimed there had been a net loss of 41 sworn staff. That is not the case. He constantly gets it wrong. In fact, in the first week of September police numbers were up by 268, compared with those at the same time last year.
Ron MarkI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I am sorry, but given that I wish to ask a supplementary question at some stage, I would have liked to hear that answer. Could I have at least half of it repeated, because the interruptions coming from down the Opposition side of the Chamber just blacked it out.
Madam SPEAKERCertainly, Madam Speaker. I said I had seen a number of reports, over recent months, that came from Simon Power, who is attempting to undermine the recruitment campaign. He released a press release yesterday, in which he stated there had been a net loss of 41 staff. I said he had got it wrong and he constantly gets it wrong. In fact, by the first week of September police numbers were up by 268, compared with those at the same time last year.
Simon PowerCan she tell the House, once and for all, when the recruitment campaign for the 1,000 extra front-line sworn officers is supposed to start—was it 1 July, as she has told the House twice this year; was it 1 September, as her spokesperson told the New Zealand Press Association last month; or is it late October, as the police manager of human resources stated yesterday?
I do not want the Minister to have to repeat the answer, so would members please listen to the answer in a reasonable level of silence.
The recruitment campaign started on 1 July and, obviously, we are having some effect. The television campaign starts in October.
Does the Minister agree with the view of the Prime Minister when she said in August last year that “Some political parties are promising thousands of new police. Such promises are simply not credible.”; if not, why not?
I think any political party that was promising thousands of new police would struggle. I have already acknowledged that it is a struggle to get 1,250. However, we have promised 1,000 extra sworn staff over 3 years, and good progress is being made. It would have been really nice if there could be support across all parties in this House to increase the number of police in New Zealand. That is certainly what New Zealanders want. I think they find it a bit rich to hear the cheap shots from the Opposition on this matter.
Does the Minister recall New Zealand First predicting that the commitment to recruit 1,000 extra uniformed police would have the flow-on effect of improving retention and reducing attrition, and that the rationalisation of the police recruiting criteria would result in more people applying to join the police; if so, can she advise the House, on the evidence to date, how we are doing?
I recall that all those points were made by New Zealand First. I point out to those who are listening that as part of our agreement with New Zealand First, we are recruiting 1,250 additional police staff. We have interest from those who used to be in the police, because they know that when there are additional staff it makes the load lighter and the job more enjoyable. It also helps to have an increased budget. I have taken particular notice of the police budgets for 1997-98 and 1998-99. I was horrified to see that in those years, under a National Government, the police budget was decreased, not increased.