‘P’ scourge casts ever-darkening shadow

new-zealand-national-party

Wed Mar 02 2005 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

‘P’ scourge casts ever-darkening shadow

Wednesday, 2 March 2005, 8:24 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

National’s Law and Order spokesman, Tony Ryall, says the scourge of methamphetamine is casting a dark shadow across crime in New Zealand.

He is commenting after the 2004 crime statistics were released. They show that crimes for hard drugs – methamphetamine, Fantasy and Ecstacy – continue to spiral out of control.

“Drug crimes are escalating in all parts of the country,” he says.

They were up in Northland by 32%, North Shore-Waitakere 131%, Auckland 158%, Counties-Manukau 90%, Waikato 32%, Bay of Plenty 72%, Eastern 240%, Central 112%, Wellington 170%, Tasman 246%, Canterbury 56%, and Southern 187%.

“Where there are drugs there is violence,” Mr Ryall says. “At the hard end of violence, grievous and serious assaults continue to climb.

“New Zealand is still a more violent place than when Labour came to power. Overall violence is up 9% in the past four years – and the Minister of Police says New Zealand women are more worried about speeding than a home invasion.

“As we said last year, many people have given up reporting minor crimes because they think the police are too busy or too under-resourced to help with their car break-in or small burglary.

“George Hawkins can talk all he likes about having an impact, but why can’t people get a response when they dial 111?”

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from New Zealand National Party on InfoPages.