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NZ could lose ‘hundreds’ of police officers to Queensland – Police Assocation
Hundreds of New Zealand police officers could be leaving for Australia, lured by a big boost in earnings, the New Zealand Police Association says.
Australia’s Queensland Police Service has launched what it is calling a “cheeky campaign” to poach New Zealand officers.
It is promising warmer days and higher pay, including a $20,000 relocation bonus.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told Morning Report that police retention was currently sitting around the same level as it was before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The attrition rates went down during Covid-19 so we did see less people leaving the police force, we’re now back to about the same level we were before Covid-19 which is still very low compared to other parts of the pubic serivce.
“So we are doing a goob job around retaining our police.”
But Police Association president Chris Cahill said it was an “attractive offer” and one that would be a “real risk” for New Zealand Police.
“The $20,000 relocation allowance is pretty good, but you’re talking about a 30 percent pay increase pretty much straight away and that’s before you factor in things like paid overtime which we don’t have in New Zealand Police.”
Cahill told Morning Report he went to the police conference in Queensland to scope out what they were offering and expected them to push this offer “pretty hard”.
“I think we could look at [losing] hundreds [of police officers], possibly.
“And that might sound a bit alarmist but I’m not sure that isn’t the reality when we look at where we’re at in New Zealand.”
Cahill said when a young officer joins the New Zealand Police today, it takes them 21 years before they get to the top of their pay band.
For nurses that was seven years and for teachers it was about nine years, he said.
In terms of working overtime, he said nurses get time-and-a-half or double, whereas officers only got time-in-lieu and even then, sometimes they were pressured to take it when it did not suit them.
“There’s significant changes to police remuneration that’s required to actually make us competitive.”
Globally, police were struggling to recruit and retain staff, Cahill said.
New Zealand had been “very lucky” to buck that trend and manage to recruit more than 4000 new officers in the last six years, he said.
“In other parts of the world, especially in Australia, they just haven’t been able to do that, that’s right across Australia. They’re carrying big vacanies eveywhere.”
Cahill said it was only obvious that they would turn to New Zealand to poach employees.
Police Association president Chris Cahill. Photo:
But while the pay may be better, there were other things to consider, he said.
“When I’ve spoken to the officers that have gone they certainly like the money but they said the professionalism isn’t the same.
“They believe New Zealand is set up better as a police force and can offer more around learning and development and that sort of thing, and have a beter culture,
“But in saying that, the risk profile in New Zealand for an officer has changed dramatically in the last ten years.”
Cahill said the increase of firearms crime and the level of assaults were much higher now – things that officers had to weigh up.
A look at the headlines in the last week would tell you that New Zealand simply was not safer than Australia anymore, he said.
“The reality for New Zealand at the moment is that gang members, and others, are wandering streets with guns on a daily basis and have shown a willingness to use them.
“I don’t think we can say that we’re safer than Australia anymore, it’s just not factually correct.”
VIA RNZ
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
rnz
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