Poto Williams has cited COVID-19 disruption in defence of slower response times for police help in almost all regions under Labour's leadership.
Police data obtained by the National Party under the Official Information Act shows that since 2017, police response times have increased by almost two hours in Auckland City and by 40 minutes in Waikato. Southland was the only region with a decrease of 13 seconds.
The same data shows gang recruits have outstripped new police. In Waikato, the difference was stark: 95 new officers since 2017 compared to 259 new gang members. The same goes for Wellington: 62 new officers since 2017 in contrast to 430 gang member recruits.
Williams, who has been Minister of Police since 2020, came under immediate fire in the aftermath of the information being released after admitting she wasn't across the details.
National Party deputy leader Nicola Willis, speaking in Parliament, criticised Williams for taking "no interest in police operational matters relating to how long it takes for a New Zealander to get a police officer to come and see them when they report a crime".
Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson leapt to Williams' defence, saying she "has the job of overseeing the police portfolio, which means making sure they have the resources they need to do the job".
Willis shot back: "So is it the Prime Minister's position that all the Minister of Police needs to do is sign off on the funding and the press releases and take no interest in the results that are delivered?"
Williams said in Parliament it was disruption caused by the pandemic that had resulted in longer police delays.
"Not only were they impacted by COVID, they put themselves in harm's way of COVID all the time. They were off being isolated, there were hundreds of cops here [Parliament] protecting us, and they were in managed isolation quarantine," she said.
"I back the police, this Government backs the police, and we do it by ensuring they have the investment they need to do the work that they need."
Williams also noted that response times for emergencies have remained stable, with the median response time in urban areas around eight minutes over the past four years.
"There have been unprecedented pressures on the police due to multiple COVID outbreaks, which have had a significant impact on police resourcing and response times."
In the past she dismissed the police's National Gang List as a reflection of gang growth, because it's an "intelligence tool" that was "never designed to be an accurate statistical count of gang membership in New Zealand" and it doesn't account for gang members who quit.
Williams told reporters she had taken the time to look over the police data.
"Now I'm confident that despite all of the impacts that the temporary impacts of COVID have had on the police and the extra pressure they've had in terms of dealing with the protest outside here, that the emergency response times have remained relatively stable," she said.
"I'm confident that once we're through the worst of Omicron that we'll be returning to normal wait times, so it was really good to be able to look at that.
"I wasn't over the details and that's because I hadn't had a chance to actually look at the information and understand the details of that information and get a briefing from the police."
Police numbers across the country have increased under Labour. The Government last week graduated its 3000th police officer since 2017. The Government is on track to reach a net gain of 1800 police officers on the beat by June 2023.
Williams has also pointed to Operation Tauwhiro, a long-term and nationally coordinated police operation that as of March 1 had resulted in 1531 firearms and 53.74 kg of methamphetamine seized, and 1255 arrests. The operation was extended until June.
But Williams' oversight of police wasn't the only line of attack from National. The party's new housing spokesperson Chris Bishop seemed shocked that, as Associate Minister of Housing with responsibility for Public Housing, she couldn't say how many children were living in emergency housing.
Williams said it wasn't her responsibility.
"My role in public housing is to ensure that we provide sufficient housing for our people on the public housing register to move off," she said in response.
"If the member would like to know if people are in emergency housing, I can pass those questions on to the minister responsible. That member should put his question in writing to me."
National MP Mark Mitchell later released a statement describing Williams as "floundering" while her "colleagues watched the horror show unfold".
"It was a trainwreck performance from a minister who has shown time and time again she is not across her portfolios."
