6. MARTIN GALLAGHER (Labour—Hamilton West) Link to this
to the Minister of Police
What do the latest statistics show regarding the rates of resolution of crimes by the New Zealand Police?
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Defence) Link to this
Police statistics released earlier this month show a continuing improvement in the rate of police resolution of crimes. Resolution rates have steadily improved across key categories of offending, such as violence, sexual offences, drugs, and dishonesty. Last year the police resolved close to 10,000 more offences than in the previous year. This reflects the much stronger resourcing the New Zealand Police has received under this Government.
I have seen a report released by the police yesterday into the theft of National Party emails that concluded that no unauthorised or unlawful breach of computer security within Parliament took place. That means that, contrary to the National Party’s claims of computer hacking, it seems the theft of these emails was an inside job. That would be consistent with Nicky Hager’s claim that the leaked emails came to him from a group of disgruntled National Party people who were concerned about a secret ideological agenda, and about the dishonesty around what National was saying as opposed to what it was planning to do.
The police report says that there are strong indications that the emails were in printed form at the time of the theft, rather than being hacked. It appears that this was not some grand theft from outside, but, rather, an inside job, and that National’s complaint to the police was more of an attempt to divert attention from the substance of the leaks that were so damaging to the credibility of the National Party. Although the police say that there is no firm evidence as to who leaked the emails, the question may well be asked as to who stood to benefit most from discrediting Dr Brash and Mr Key. Perhaps the person stabbed in the back by both of those individuals, Mr English, could offer an answer to that question.
Simon PowerDoes the Minister stand by Labour’s 1999 pledge card promise to “crack down on burglary”, when the latest crime statistics show that the actual number of burglaries resolved in 2007 was 1,000 fewer than in 2000, and when a recent study showed that New Zealand has the second-highest rate of burglary amongst 30 countries?
I most certainly stand by the claim that I made. If the member looks back to a decade ago he will find that burglaries in New Zealand in absolute terms are down by about a third. Given that this is the most common form of crime, a drop of a third in burglaries is a remarkable achievement by this Government. Further, these statistics released on 1 April show that the rate of resolution of property offences has continued to improve because the police are now resourced to do the job they need to do, unlike under the Government that that member was a part of a decade ago.
I seek leave to table police statistics showing that the number of burglaries resolved in 2007 was 1,000 fewer than in 2000.
Madam SPEAKERI seek leave to table page 65 of the International Crime Victim Survey showing that New Zealand has the second-highest rate of burglaries amongst 30 countries.
I seek leave to table a release from the New Zealand Police that shows that dishonesty offences, which make up 53 percent of all offences, reduced by 5.1 percent last year—
Gerry BrownleeI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. The House knows that you are not responsible for Ministers’ answers, but you are, to some extent, required to decide whether a Minister has appropriately addressed a question. I just notice that today, unlike on many other occasions, the Minister answering on behalf of the Minister of Police was more than happy to stray into what would previously have been described as operational matters. I wonder whether you might consider how a Speaker may work out the bounds between operational matters and plain political opportunity.
The Minister had responsibility for a matter that related to a police investigation that is now public. It was within ministerial responsibility. In terms of questions and answers having a political edge, I say that if we banned those we would probably have none. I will take note of what the member has said.