Collins misleads on yet another safety issue
8 July 2009 Media Statement
Collins misleads on yet another safety issue
Corrections Minister
Judith Collins has misled corrections staff with her claim
that it is essential that frontline staff have the equipment
to manage dangerous situations, says Labour law and order
spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove.
“This Minister is quite remarkable in the level and frequency of her boasting,” Clayton Cosgrove said. “In recent weeks she has:
•
Claimed the Government is funding 600 extra police when all
but 224 of them were funded by the previous Labour
Government.
• Stripped more than 300 vehicles from the
police fleet, while maintaining, contrary to what frontline
police tell me, that police will still be able to do their
job safely, effectively and efficiently.
• Threatened
to get tough on boy racers by crushing their cars, but then
admitted that the number of cars to be crushed could
probably be counted on two hands each year.
• And now
she has claimed that it is essential for frontline
corrections staff to have the tools to keep themselves as
safe as possible, while cynically not disclosing that in two
recent incidents staff who were assaulted would not have
been issued with stab-proof vests before they were attacked.
“No doubt Judith Collins will pass this off as unfortunate, and say many staff will be better off because they will have stab-proof vests, but both police and corrections staff are becoming more than a little weary of her bragging.”
Clayton Cosgrove said while it was good news that more than $4 million is being spent on extra equipment and training for corrections staff, “Ms Collins does herself and staff no favours by always having to gild the lily.
“It would be no wonder at all if both police and corrections staff are now dividing every claim she makes by two, and then by two again. That might get them somewhere close to the truth.”
ENDS