Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has addressed the media in Hamilton as police are being given new powers to target fleeing drivers.
The new powers, announced in a statement by Police Minister Chris Hipkins and Justice Minister Kiri Allan, included a 12-month increase to the maximum driver licence disqualification period for a second offence of failing to stop or remain stopped - from 12 months to between 12-24 months.
An amendment would also be made to the Sentencing Act 2002 so that a vehicle could be forfeited on a conviction for failing to stop for police, meaning offenders could have their vehicle permanently removed and would not get any proceeds from the sale.
Finally, police would be enabled to impound a vehicle for 28 days if the owner failed, refused or provided false or misleading information about the identity of a fleeing driver.
Speaking to media alongside Ardern, Justice Minister Kiri Allan said, “If you are thinking of being a fleeing driver, that there will indeed be tougher consequences”.
“If you choose to flee from police, you can expect to lose your vehicle,” she said.
Allan said evidence showed penalties that led to the loss of vehicles could be an effective tool to reduce harm.
Ardern added that everything announced today had been done in co-ordination with what police wanted, around the loss of a vehicle and how that impacted an offender’s ability to commit a crime.
Ardern rejected any suggestion Allan would need a nickname similar to Judith “Crusher” Collins, who earned her nickname after she championed legislation that resulted in cars of boy racers being crushed.
Allan said there was a broad range of tools for police regarding fleeing drivers but they had been unable to catch some of those offenders due to the police’s own policy.
There had been an increase of 2000 fleeing drivers in the last year following police’s last change of the pursuit policy in 2020.
Justice Minister Kiri Allan. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Earlier this week, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster revealed police’s policy on pursuing fleeing drivers would change again early next year to factor in the risk of future offending by those drivers, indicating there would be more instances where police would be able to pursue offenders.
On Monday, Ardern revealed revealed $4 million of Government funding would be split between local councils in Auckland ($2m), Hamilton ($1m) and Bay of Plenty ($1m) to match council funding for local crime prevention measures such as street lighting, CCTV cameras and bollard-esque planter boxes.
It followed the death of 34-year-old dairy worker Janak Patel, who was fatally stabbed last week while he was managing the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham, Auckland.
The tragedy led to protests across the country from dairy workers who said they felt unsafe, particularly in areas including Auckland and Waikato which had experienced spikes in crime.
In response, the Government would also subsidise the purchase and installation of fog cannons to the tune of $4000 for any shop owner who felt vulnerable - regardless of whether they had been previous victims of crime - something which had limited the application of crime prevention methods in the past.
The $6m Retail Crime Prevention fund - designed to support businesses hit by ram raids - would be expanded to include those who had experienced aggravated robberies.
Ardern said she had been in talks with Hamilton Council around criminal activity, which prompted Monday’s announcement about funding local crime prevention methods. Mayor Paula Southgate had been integral in those conversations.
“We are seeing initiatives have an impact,” Ardern said regarding local measures to prevent crime.
Asked about a business owner paying for their own security measures because the Govt was too slow, Ardern said she wanted to make sure smaller retailers were supported by the Govt if they had been hit by ram raids or aggravated robberies.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Mark Mitchell
She said often there were some circumstances that have perhaps meant that things haven’t happened as quickly as she would like, citing instances involving insurance companies not moving fast enough.
It comes as the hotly-contested Hamilton West byelection will be decided in 10 days’ time with National’s Tama Potaka and Labour’s Georgie Dansey likely to be top contenders to take over the seat vacated by former Labour Party member Dr Gaurav Sharma.
Ardern said the party was working hard to win the seat because the area was important to Labour. She felt the area would be best represented by a local member. a nod to Potaka’s recent move to Hamilton after living in Auckland for several years.
On voter turnout, Dansey said community members had shown lots of interest. She said it was “absolutely not the case” that the byelection would be an indication for what might happen in the general election, when asked about Hamilton West being a bellwether seat.
Having visited Fieldays yesterday, Ardern was in the Waikato today for a tour of the K’aute Pasifika Village - an initiative to address the demand for business support and general wellbeing services in the Waikato Pasifika community which received $8 million from the Provincial Growth Fund.
She was also set to meet the Safest City Taskforce - a joint initiative of Hamilton City Council and NZ Police to increase safety throughout Hamilton.
Yesterday, Ardern also held a meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who urged solidarity among small, democratic countries in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when she met Ardern in Auckland.
Asked about what “soft power” small countries like Finland and New Zealand could exert around the world, Marin said “hard power” like sending weapons to Ukraine was needed.
“We need hard power when it comes to Ukraine. They need weapons, they need financial support, then need humanitarian support and we need to make sure all the refugees fleeing Ukraine are welcomed to Europe,” Marin said.
“Ukraine will win, they will need our help, they will need hard power to win that war.”
