The Education Minister's attempts to paint early childhood education funding in a good light fell flat at a conference in Rotorua on Friday.
Anne Tolley was speaking to about 480 people at the New Zealand Childcare Association's Conference and AGM.
As part of her keynote speech to about 480 people at the New Zealand Childcare Association's Conference and AGM, Anne Tolley compared the $1.4 billion given to early childhood education annually with the amount allocated to the police.
But a delegate said if more money was spent on early childhood education, less would have to be spent on the police.
The comment drew applause from the audience.
New Zealand Childcare Association chief executive Nancy Bell says research shows there are economic benefits to investing early in a child's education.
She says there appears to be a strong consensus that getting it right at the start saves money in the long term.
Ms Bell says the government is giving more funding to early childhood education only because there are more children enrolled.