Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Police)
: I return to the issue of the code of conduct for the New Zealand Police raised by Mr Borrows. He expressed disappointment in the wording of the code because it did not explicitly mention sexual misconduct. The explanation given at the Law and Order Committee when we were hearing the estimates was that it was a decision taken by Police National Headquarters to have a generic code of conduct to cover all codes but to back it up with other action. I think the important thing out of this is the change in attitude amongst what has to be a very small number of police officers.
My experience is that the overwhelming majority of police officers in New Zealand are very, very hard-working, that they do have integrity, and that they do perform their duties to the best of their ability in a job that is not an easy one to undertake—and they are more likely to get brickbats than bouquets. I believe that the code of conduct, the way it is implemented, and the monitoring of that, plus the training that goes behind it, are far more important than a few words written on a piece of paper. Actions, as always, speak louder than words.
The other issue the member raised was around policing in South Auckland. I say once again to the member that if we had had a National Government in power then and now, we would not be seeing, with the policy it had following the Martin review, the extra 180-odd police officers in Auckland we are now seeing. We would have seen a reduction in the number, because the Martin review recommendation was to take 500 police officers off the streets of New Zealand. We put the first tranche of newly trained officers where we needed them first, and the first requirement was to put them into our big metropolitan areas, in particular Auckland. The New Zealand Police headquarters, of course, looked at where the greatest need was and deployed them into those areas.
I conclude by saying that I believe that the police have done some amazing work over this past year and that they are looking forward to the work they have to undertake, I believe they deserve all the support we can give them. They have got additional staff and there is more recruitment going on. They have one of the lowest attrition rates in the public sector. Currently, they are sitting on a turnover of 3.9 percent. That rate would be
envied by any other part of the public sector. They have worked incredibly hard on the Policing Bill, which will be passed by this Parliament in the financial year we are looking at. They have worked hard on reducing crime and increasing resolution rates.
I believe that they have also taken very seriously the impact of domestic violence on families in this country. I know that Mr Borrows would agree with me when I say that if we look back a decade and compare the attitude we had in New Zealand towards domestic violence then with what it is today, we would see how important this area has become not only within the general public but within the New Zealand Police. We can see that this important area is now one of great concern to the police. It is taken seriously and specialist people are deployed to work in this area. We really do need to make a big difference in the family violence we face in this country.
