2. Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Leader—National) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does she stand by her statement made prior to the last election that “Some political parties are promising thousands of new police. Such promises are simply not credible.”; if not, why not?
Does her Government therefore take responsibility for the risks to public safety set out in the internal and previously secret police report, which shows that the minimum standard for general mental ability for new police recruits has been dropped to the 23rd percentile—meaning that on any given day they have to be smarter than only 23 percent of the population, which includes many offenders?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I would note that the target for recruiting an extra total 1,000 on to the numbers previously in the New Zealand Police is exactly the same as that which John Key promised in 2005. Secondly, I am well aware that the standard police test is tougher now than it was before the revision in 2004.
Will the Prime Minister put public safety ahead of Labour’s political requirements and instruct the Minister of Police to focus on raising the minimum standard of police recruits above the level set out in the internal and previously secret police report, to focus more on the quality of recruits and less on achieving the raw number of 1,000?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I repeat: the change to the tests, which was announced in 2004 and implemented in 2005, makes the tests tougher.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Is it a fact that the recruits currently the subject of this question would have had, in the main, most of their education under a National Government, and whose fault is it if they cannot pass the exam?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
That is almost certainly the case. I also note that one of the reports that has been done on this issue points out that there are a group of people who were accepted as recruits under the police’s old sworn applicant testing process, which the National Party was perfectly happy with, and a number of current serving police officers, who would not be able to continue through the police recruiting process today without resitting the test and passing. I repeat: the standard test is tougher.
If the Prime Minister believes that the standard is now higher, then why did the police go to so much trouble to make sure this report did not become public; and why have the police not published reports that show that the standard is higher if that is what she believes, in contradiction to the people who ran the course at the Police College?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
The fact that the tests are tougher is well known. I might point out that the test that the National Party was perfectly happy with—the old test—had its booklet and answers available in the public area, and anyone who swotted up could learn them.
Hon Annette KingHas she seen any reports about public confidence in the New Zealand Police; if so, what do they say?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
The State Services Commission has drawn our attention to the New Zealand Values Survey of 2006, which shows that the New Zealand Police is the most trusted organisation in New Zealand—something, of course, the National Party is keen to change by its constant attacks on the police. Mr Borrows said yesterday that he believed that public confidence had been severely dented. I am afraid that no matter how much the National Party attacks the police, the public continue to think very highly of them.
Can the Prime Minister confirm that this is another example where Labour has picked up a gimmicky slogan and has spent millions of dollars of extra money, and that that has led to a decrease in the level of service?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
Can I stress, again, that John Key made exactly the same commitment for a thousand extra police. No doubt, Bill English thinks that is a gimmick too, but it might explain why when Mr Key was interviewed this week on whom he was leaving in charge while he was away, he listed Moonbeam, the family cat, before he got to Mr English.
Simon PowerHe is too bright. What then is the Prime Minister’s response to the internal police report of serious concerns that low standards for recruits mean: “Some of our staff are in a very vulnerable position and some of the public are probably being placed at risk or offered very poor service,”; and that the police “are at risk of claims of negligent hiring because we know these things.”, or is she not worried about public safety and what the police think of their own recruits?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I repeat that the standard test is tougher, that police having been admitted for training have to actually pass out of the college, and that one of the reports made available to the police shows that some of those admitted under the old test that National was happy with would not be admitted today.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
Can the Prime Minister confirm that both the old and the new test for standard of entry into the police are higher than the test for standard of entry into Parliament, for which there is in fact no test of competence at all; if so, is she prepared to arrange for all the members of the National caucus to sit the standard police test to see whether they can all pass?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I have two points to make. The New Zealand Values Survey, which said that the police were the most trusted organisation in New Zealand, of course ranked trust in them considerably higher than trust in this Parliament. Secondly, I would be fascinated to see the results of asking members to apply their verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning in the new standard test. I doubt whether many members opposite could meet it.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Would the Prime Minister agree that the issue of poor English among police recruits is a reflection of previous immigration policies, which have not placed enough emphasis on English language requirements, and that berating the securing of 1,250 extra police is not consistent with a party that claims to be tough on law and order, but is consistent with a party that would seek to dramatically cut Government expenditure if returned to the Treasury benches—a party that also failed, because of losses on the INCIS computer program, to train hundreds of policemen and gain the benefits that that would have made available?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I thank the member for reminding me how sorely pressed police budgets were under the National Government. Secondly, I point out that the Labour Government actually raised the standard of English language testing required by migrants, something that is constantly attacked all around the country by the National Party spokesperson Pansy Wong.