Even Tolley's 'Dr Seuss' defence can't hide pressures facing Police

Police Minister Anne Tolley is running away from the serious pressure the Police budget is under, says Labour’s Police spokesperson Kris Faafoi.

"At Select Committee today Anne Tolley refused to answer questions around the financial pressure the Police are under given the challenges of increased wage costs and meeting the rising costs of inflation," Kris Faafoi said

"Anne Tolley used the Dr Seuss defence to dodge questions.

"She simply 'could-not' or 'would-not' answer the questions put to her.

"The Police budget has stayed static and faces inflationary pressures of $24 million dollars this year, and front-line officers are currently negotiating a new collective employment agreement,” Kris Faafoi said. “This is on top of the 5 per cent of savings Police are being asked to find each year.

"None of this has been addressed in the Police Budget this year.

"This is clearly going to mean extreme pressure on Police staffing and resources,” Kris Faafoi said.

"Anne Tolley is running away from the fact that Police face huge cost pressures and is using current wage negotiations as cover.

"She could not even answer the simple question: 'Do wages equate roughly to 70 per cent of the Police operational budget?'.

"Using the 'would-not, could-not' defence to refuse to answer simple questions shows that Anne Tolley is doing everything she can to dodge responsibility for the financial pressure the New Zealand Police is under.”