13 Mar 2024

PM Christopher Luxon backs Minister's handling of police pay negotiations

1:22 pm on 13 March 2024

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon won't comment on where negotiations on police pay are at, but says officers on the front line are "very appreciative" of the government's work on law and order.

He told reporters he had been speaking to police officers.

"If you talk to frontline police officers ... they actually are very appreciative, they've got a government finally that hasn't got just one crime goal which has been a 30 percent reduction of the prison population which we have just abolished."

He said the government would continue to negotiate in good faith, but would not comment on where the negotiations over pay were at.

"Ultimately that's a decision for the police and the police association, rather than for me to get involved in ... I'm not going to get into the details of it because in fairness, it is a negotiation between the police and the police association themselves."

Police on Friday last week were presented with the same offer they had received in September from the previous government, with no backdating.

Officers had described the offer as "insulting", "disgusting" and "demoralising", with one email to the Police Association - which negotiates on behalf of police - saying "my feedback is not printable".

"As I attend the sudden death of a 12-year-old girl and help a grieving family, then go to a gruesome violent stabbing that will stay with me forever, I will remember that I am valued by this disgusting offer," another said.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins told Morning Report National in opposition had been highly critical of the former government's police pay offer - but was now offering a worse deal.

"Now they're in government and they've made an offer to police that's worse than the one that we made that the police rejected," Hipkins said.

"The ball is firmly in National's court, they gave the police the impression before the election that they thought police should be paid more, now they've actually got to front up and deliver."

Hipkins would not say whether he would have given police a 6 percent increase if Labour were still in government, but said they had spent money on police working conditions - improving equipment and training for police safety.

"We actually took that concern really really seriously. So they've got better kit now that they've had before, they've got better training now than they've had before. We invested in those things because we actually think that protecting our police is a really important thing to do."

Luxon said the new government was concerned about making sure police got the tools they needed.

"You've seen us move quite quickly through some law and order initiatives that we've actioned through the Parliament," he said on Wednesday morning.

"That's important for police - so they know that they are backed up and they have the tools to do it. Yes, there is a negotiation that's going on, it's been going on with the former government and now with our government."

Luxon backed his Police Minister Mark Mitchell, saying he was "very focused" on the negotiations.

"I think what you're hearing from police, and what I hear from police is, they appreciate the fact that they know they've now got a government from the top that is actually going to make sure that we uphold rights and responsibilities in this country."

'We're about outcomes': Luxon bats away criticisms over use of urgency

Luxon the previous day was unapologetic about his government's use of urgency to push laws through Parliament.

On Wednesday he denied the government was riding roughshod over democracy, saying they had clear positions during the election.

"So where we have actually our positions are well understood well known we're moving through with great speed, but equally where we've got new policy areas - for example, fast track consenting - we will ... use the process as we need to in terms of making sure we've got good quality consultation happening with the community through the select committee process.

"We are a government that is here to get things done. We're about outcomes.

"Where we've got clear positions, it's well understood, well articulated, we campaigned strongly on it, we'll move it through very fast. Where we've got new policy areas we'll have full transparent process."

Mobile breast screening unit launched

Luxon was speaking alongside Health Minister Shane Reti in south Auckland to launch a mobile breast screening unit at Manukau SuperClinic.

The prime minister told reporters the new mobile unit would allow screenings at marae, markets, churches and other places where people felt more comfortable.

"With the density of population in South Auckland, we're able to get it out to Botany and all through Counties Manukau. So yeah, this is the idea - is that we we believe in actually deploying the services as close as we can to the hapū, to the family, and to make sure that we actually bring the services to them."

He said about 30,000 people screened in Counties Manukau, and about 20 percent would be done through the mobile units. About 74 percent of Pasifika women were being screened - meaning that group was meeting the target of 70 percent across the population.

However, the rate was between 60 and 70 percent for Māori women.

"It's just making it easier for people so whether you're at a church site or on a marae ... where people are more comfortable, more at home," Luxon said.

"Please just step up and get over the fear and go do it anyway."

In February, Health Minister Shane Reti and Minister for Women Louise Upston were also at Manukau SuperClinic to announce the expansion of breast cancer screening. It would mean 120,000 more women would be eligible every two years, Reti had said.

The government's plan would also mean an average of two to three extra mammograms for women, once the programme is fully implemented.

Part of the government's first 100-day plan was to take steps to extend free breast cancer screening to those aged up to 74.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs