Simon Power
National Party Law & Order Spokesman

14 December 2005

Who is our $800,000 cop?

National’s Law & Order spokesman, Simon Power, says the public has a right to know which officer in the New Zealand Police was paid more than $800,000 in the 2004-05 financial year.

He is commenting on answers to written questions in which Police Minister Annette King refuses to identify the person indicated in the Police annual report as being paid $800,000-$810,000.

“The public have a right to know who is being paid this much money, whether it is a sworn officer, and what job he or she is doing.

“What we do know is that the officer is currently serving in the Police, but the Minister is refusing to say who it is.

“The last time we heard, the Commissioner was paid at around $440,000, so unless he’s doubled his salary in the past year, someone is getting a bucket load more than him.

“This mystery person was last year paid more than the Governor of the Reserve Bank and the Secretary to the Treasury, making him or her New Zealand’s highest paid public servant by a considerable margin, and I think the public has a right to know who it is,” Mr Power says.

ENDS

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