Police latest victims of botched Budget

Frontline police officers look to be the latest casualty in National’s botched Budget, says Labour’s Police spokesperson Kris Faafoi.

“Front-line officers are becoming increasingly frustrated with the fact that the Government did not deal with its serious resourcing constraints in the Budget,” Kris Faafoi said.

“Instead they have left it for Police management to sort out and it has turned into a power struggle between our front-line police officers and Police top brass.

“An email I have obtained from the Police Association to its members has revealed that wage negotiations have become fraught.

“It claims that performance pay is back on the cards for police and that competency service increments (CSI) payments to front-line officers could be scrapped. It backs frontline officers reinforcing its position that staff are not overpaid.

“At a Select Committee hearing earlier this year MPs were told the CSI’s would be roughly $170 million over four years. The Police Association says they are now being used as a pawn in wage negotiations.

“This is another case of a lack of leadership on the Government’s behalf. It is trying to lay the blame of any front-line cutbacks on police officers, when it is the Government that has failed to make the hard decisions.

“The Government attempted to play down Police Budget cuts, claiming the only significant change would be a loss of 125 sworn staff – but now the chickens have come home to roost,” Kris Faafoi said.