5. SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) Link to this
to the Minister of Police
Can she confirm the number of violent offences increased by 12.3 percent from 2006 to 2007?
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Police) Link to this
Yes. I can also confirm that the police advise that the increased number of violent offences in the statistics is almost entirely driven—5,810 out of the extra 6,252 offences—by recorded family violence. As Professor Mike Rowe from the institute of criminology at Victoria University said yesterday: “It may sound rather bizarre, but it is actually good news, because I think this suggests that people are more likely to report these offences to the police than perhaps they once were.”
Can the Minister confirm that the number of violent offences has increased by 43.6 percent since 1999, meaning that there are 333 more violent offences a week now than before Labour took office; and can she also confirm that she is presiding over the highest rate of violence per head of population ever?
I can confirm that there have been increases in violence in New Zealand. I can also confirm that most of it is driven by reported domestic violence. I have to say to the member that I am very concerned that the National Party has joined the domestic violence deniers, because it is not—[ Interruption] This is a serious issue, because whenever the National Party talks about violent crime, it wants to discount domestic violence. As long as that party discounts domestic violence we will never get on top of it, because those members are supposed to be political leaders. We have seen massive increases in reported domestic violence in New Zealand. We ought to be—
Hon Bill EnglishI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Clearly any member of Parliament from any party would find the Minister’s allegation that MPs of that party endorsed domestic violence deeply offensive. I ask that she withdraw and apologise.
Madam SPEAKER
Hon David Benson-Pope Link to this
What reports has the Minister seen about the number of murders in 2007?
The number of murders in New Zealand is at an all-time decade low, at 45 murders. In fact, the highest in that decade was in 1997, with 66 murders. But if we were to be listening to members of the National Party and their comments on violent crime, we would think that New Zealand had out-of-control murders. Every one of those murders is a tragedy, but I think it is beholden on members of this House to present the facts to the public, rather than trying to crank up a political agenda for themselves.
Can the Minister confirm that the number of grievous assaults has increased by 93.6 percent—or almost doubled—since Labour took office and that, within that category, assault with a weapon is up by two-thirds, wounding with intent has more than doubled, and injuring with intent has tripled?
Yes, there certainly has been an increase in these offences. But, thank goodness, this Government, in conjunction with New Zealand First, has been prepared to put additional police on the street so that more of the people who commit these crimes can be caught.
Can the Minister confirm that violence by youth offenders aged 14 to 16 has gone up 47 percent since Labour took office, and that in the space of just 1 year—the year relating to the statistics released yesterday—violence by children aged 10 to 13 has increased by 30 percent?
There is certainly more increase in youth crime. Fortunately a lot of it arises out of the year in which we put in place, in South Auckland in particular, a multi-agency approach to youth crime in terms of gangs, which has been incredibly successful in suppressing youth gang activity in the South Auckland area.
Te Ururoa Flavell Link to this
Tēnā koē, Madam Speaker. Kia ora tātou e te Whare. How are the police equipped to deal with the incidents of family violence in isolated rural areas?
No longer is family violence the responsibility of one or two officers. It is the responsibility of every police officer, so any police officer serving in a rural area is required to take family violence seriously. It is no longer called “just a domestic”, as it was for many years, and one can see in the prosecutions by the police, which have more than doubled in the last decade, that the police do take it seriously.
Can the Minister state categorically that the 43 percent increase in violent offences is due to an increase in reporting rather than an increase in violence; if so, should the next round of crime statistics show a decrease in the number of violent offences, will she be claiming that this represents a welcome reduction in violence or a disturbing decline in reporting?
What I will predict is that there will be more reported family violence in the next statistics, because we are not going to stop programmes and campaigns to get women in particular to come forward and report family violence. We should be welcoming that reporting—welcoming it—not criticising it and somehow minimising it because it happens to be family violence. It is important violence, in that it is within a person’s own home. It is much harder to deal with than street violence because we cannot have police patrolling bedrooms and lounges, and it is an issue that all of us, in terms of a community—politicians, local government, and others—need to address together. It is only going to change over time, and with a change in attitude.
How does the Minister’s claim that an increase in the reporting of domestic violence is causing the increase in violent offences, as an isolated statement, explain overall the fact that there are now over 1,000 more robberies a year than there were in 1999?
The statistics and the comments I used came from the New Zealand Police. I do not have any reason to doubt those comments. The New Zealand Police made it clear in its statement yesterday that when we look at the recorded cases of violence we see that overwhelmingly they have come from increased reports on family violence. Of course there are reports of other crime in New Zealand, but overall the picture of crime in New Zealand has been decreasing over the last decade, not increasing.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
I wonder whether the Minister has heard any reports of suggestions to deal with the violence, such as that by Bob Clarkson MP, who suggested that, like the grand old Duke of York, offenders should be sent on long marches as a solution to their problems.
Bob ClarksonRt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Bob Clarkson has just said something about himself that he should not say in this House. He used a word beginning with “d” that I cannot repeat. It was “d-head”, and it well explains what he looks like in the mirror but he cannot say it in this House. I ask him to withdraw and apologise.
No, I have not heard of this particular solution to crime in New Zealand. I have heard that the Leader of the Opposition believes that the answer to all youth crime is to send youth to boot camps, something that has actually failed in New Zealand. That is the only answer we have heard on crime from the Opposition so far.