He gives Chris Hipkins a nudge too.

From Facebook.

Mark Mitchell MP 

1h  · 

`Tamatha Paul has done an interview today talking about her view of our Police force.

In it, she accuses me of never having anything intelligent to say and never bringing evidence or data to back up my claim that our Police are world class.

She also talks about how if she was the Police Minister in a Labour-Green coalition, she would remove a lot of the power and discretion that Police have.

Our Police are world class. I regularly provide the House with data and evidence to prove that they do an outstanding job in an incredibly challenging environment.

The 2 per cent reduction in violent crime under this Government, after a 51 per cent increase under the Labour-Green soft on crime experiment, underlines why they can never be trusted with public safety.

The data and evidence don’t lie. The previous Labour-Green government emptied prisons at the same time as a record surge in violent crime. That is not a coincidence.

We have all the data and evidence that we need that the previous Labour-Green government’s approach to public safety did not work. Letting violent criminals out of prison can only mean more violent crime.

I totally reject the claim that people feel less safe with Police out on the beat – in fact there is overwhelming evidence that the opposite is true. It is complete nonsense to claim that all our beat Police do is persecute homeless people – in fact the complete opposite is true, our frontline Police officers are always looking for ways to support and help rough sleepers.

It is alarming that the Green Party’s position is that the Police should have less discretion. One of the foundational principles of not only our Police, but forces across the free world, is their discretion and their independence.

It is extremely dangerous for parties in the House to be talking about removing Police’s discretion. This is a cornerstone and critical part of community policing.

New Zealanders should be very concerned by the prospect of a Labour-Green government that wants to defund and remove the discretion of our Police force, at the same time as letting violent criminals out of prison.

Although Labour initially tried to distance themselves from the Green Party, after having spoken to Marama Davidson, Chris Hipkins reversed his position and said that they had raised some legitimate issues. People should remember that they have voted together against legislation brought forward by this Government to make the public safer.

I am proud of the work that this coalition Government is doing on public safety. I have personally dedicated most of my adult life to service to my country and public safety. For 18 months, I have worked tirelessly to get our country back on track and moving in the right direction in terms of our nation’s safety.

Labour and the Greens have spent that time making deeply personal attacks on me. I regularly update the country on the progress that we are making, providing data and evidence to show what progress is being made and where our challenges still lie.

In my view, Labour and the Greens are a total embarrassment when it comes to law and order and regularly show that they shouldn’t be taken seriously. Kiwis are able to judge that for themselves.’

Note:

I have not seen the Tamatha Paul interview Mark Mitchell refers to and have no idea who it was with other than it would be a Greens friendly interviewer because Green MP’s do not do the hard yards.