In response to a question from ACT’s Police spokesperson Chris Baillie, the Government has been forced to reveal that assaults on police have more than tripled since Labour was elected.

Assaults (excluding spitting) have gone from 307 a year in 2017 to 1001 in 2022. That’s nearly three a day! In total, since Labour was elected there have been 11,300 assaults on police.

“That is an outrageous increase in assaults and shows that this Government has lost control of crime,” said ACT Police spokesperson Chris Baillie. “Labour’s soft approach to crime is to blame. Criminals no longer feel that there are consequences for their actions, so they feel they can attack police with impunity.”

“Ask any parent: if your kids don’t face consequences for bad behaviour, you get mayhem. It’s the same with criminals.”

“Criminals need to know that if they do wrong, there will be accountability, up to and including jail.

Police Minister Ginny Anderson’s response is to say that police do an 'amazing job' and that the increase in crime and assaults on police is 'unacceptable'. These are fine words, and true, but words are not enough.

“We need a reset. A fresh approach to tackling crime.

“ACT will review the use of electronic monitoring and require rehabilitation before parole. For people who can’t or won’t be rehabilitated, we’ll bring back Three Strikes.

“We need to stop being afraid of locking people up.

“ACT will build prison capacity back up to what it was when Labour was elected, and add 200 beds for young offenders. We need to nip these young criminals in the bud.

“I was a youth aid officer for three years, and I’ve seen kids turn their life around – but they’ve only been able to do that when they’ve been held accountable first, and at the moment they’re just not.

“You can’t rehabilitate people when they’re running amok on the streets committing more crimes.

"Labour has shown they’re all talk, no action. Only ACT will ensure there are real consequences for crime to keep New Zealanders safe,” he said.

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