ISSUE
Friday, August 15, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 72
Labour’s ethnic affairs spokesperson Phil Goff raised in Parliament last week growing concern in the community about law and order and safety. It was, he said, the top issue raised with him at the recent political forum organised by the Indian Central Association.
“With recent tragic cases such as the murders of Blessie Gotingco and Arun Kumar people whose work is in services, such as dairies and driving taxis, feel they are on the front line of criminal offending”, Phil Goff said.
“According to the latest criminal statistics 360,000 criminal offences were recorded in New Zealand last year. The Government says crime is coming down but that’s just the crimes people report to the Police. Many believe that an increasing number of victims of crime do not report them.
“Either way, if your family is a victim of crime, being told ‘don’t worry crime is coming down’ is not much of a consolation. It’s an even bigger concern when Government uses that as an excuse for cutting policing as they have been doing”, Phil Goff said. He challenged Minister of Police Anne Tolley to explain to parliament why police spending has, in real terms, been cut by $114 million since 2009. It has been cut as a percentage of government spending and as a percentage of GDP.
“Policing is given a low priority by the National Government and police officers, such as inspector Greg O’Connor, have been saying the Government is making it much harder for front-line police officers. Sworn police officers have been cut by 80 in the last two years and police staff overall by hundreds.
“Community police stations such as Mt Albert, St Lukes, Blockhouse Bay, Otara and Papatoetoe and Mt Roskill have been closed at the same time as Henderson retailers were telling us that having a community police station there may have made a difference in helping prevent the murder of dairy owner Arun Kumar. People have the right to feel safe in their communities and on the streets and that’s not how they feel at the moment”, Phil Goff said.
Labour’s ethnic affairs spokesperson Phil Goff raised in Parliament last week growing concern in the community about law and order and safety. It was, he said, the top issue raised with him at the recent political forum organised by the Indian Central Association. “With recent tragic cases such...
Labour’s ethnic affairs spokesperson Phil Goff raised in Parliament last week growing concern in the community about law and order and safety. It was, he said, the top issue raised with him at the recent political forum organised by the Indian Central Association.
“With recent tragic cases such as the murders of Blessie Gotingco and Arun Kumar people whose work is in services, such as dairies and driving taxis, feel they are on the front line of criminal offending”, Phil Goff said.
“According to the latest criminal statistics 360,000 criminal offences were recorded in New Zealand last year. The Government says crime is coming down but that’s just the crimes people report to the Police. Many believe that an increasing number of victims of crime do not report them.
“Either way, if your family is a victim of crime, being told ‘don’t worry crime is coming down’ is not much of a consolation. It’s an even bigger concern when Government uses that as an excuse for cutting policing as they have been doing”, Phil Goff said. He challenged Minister of Police Anne Tolley to explain to parliament why police spending has, in real terms, been cut by $114 million since 2009. It has been cut as a percentage of government spending and as a percentage of GDP.
“Policing is given a low priority by the National Government and police officers, such as inspector Greg O’Connor, have been saying the Government is making it much harder for front-line police officers. Sworn police officers have been cut by 80 in the last two years and police staff overall by hundreds.
“Community police stations such as Mt Albert, St Lukes, Blockhouse Bay, Otara and Papatoetoe and Mt Roskill have been closed at the same time as Henderson retailers were telling us that having a community police station there may have made a difference in helping prevent the murder of dairy owner Arun Kumar. People have the right to feel safe in their communities and on the streets and that’s not how they feel at the moment”, Phil Goff said.
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