Traffic fines treble

The number of traffic fines issued by police has more than trebled under the Labour Government, figures show.

Police Minister George Hawkins released the figures to ACT deputy leader Muriel Newman in response to written parliamentary questions.

They showed 433,934 traffic offence and infringement notices were issued in 1999, compared with 1.3 million last year.

"These figures are damning proof that (Prime Minister) Helen Clark has turned our hard-working police into revenue gatherers, rather than crime fighters," Dr Newman said in a statement.

"Violent crime is spiralling out of control... yet the Labour Party is dishing out tickets to motorists at an astonishing rate while the thugs are getting away with murder."

- NZPA