This story was first published by RNZ.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Mark Mitchell “got it mixed up in the moment” at Monday’s shambolic press conference.
He said Mitchell “clarified it very quickly” the “straightforward” facts.
“We had a quick chat on the way out of the press conference, and he very quickly clarified the numbers immediately… He’s acknowledged he muddied the waters on an important law and order announcement. Yeah, but he quickly clarified it… which was great.”
Luxon denied the announcement - preceded by an embargoed press release with very little detail - was rushed.
“This is a serious investment: $1.9 billion. We are determined to make sure we recruit more frontline Corrections staff, we want to make sure they get funding for pay increases. We want to expand the prison capacity at Waikeria and we want to also spend $80 million getting rehabilitation programmes… to remand prisoners which, you know, in New Zealand is 45 percent of our prison population at the moment.
“So it’s important we get those services to prisoners quicker so they can turn their lives around faster.”
Asked if he had overpromised on the government’s ability to deal with crime, Luxon claimed gang numbers, ram-raids and retail crime were up on 2018, and the previous approach was not working.
“What you’re seeing from our government is a big focus on law and order. You know, we’ve got tougher laws on gangs. We’ve got serious young offenders and military academies coming. We’ve put strikes back in. We’re recruiting an extra 500 police officers. We’ve got this big package of $1.9 billion for Corrections. We’re also going to work really hard on social investment and rehabilitation for prisoners as well…
“I’m sick of it… New Zealand’s sick of it, we get that.”
Luxon said the coalition had not been in power long enough to fix it yet, and rejected suggestion his government was just providing slogans instead of solutions.
“We are determined to restore law and order, so Kiwis feel safe.”
Luxon said the minister was doing a great job advocating for restoring law and order.
“He cares about the frontline police, he cares about the frontline Corrections officers, he’s done a good job on emergencymanagement and recovery and he’s doing a good job.”