Pay offer a 'significant loss' to frontline officers- former police minister

Labour says a pay rise offer made to police is worse than officers rejected last term.

Six months ago Labour's police spokesperson, Ginny Andersen - then the minister of police - was in a similar position, copping flack for a proposed 4 percent pay bump.

That was ultimately rejected, as this one looks set to be.

Anderson told Morning Report the offer police were provided with when she was minister was "significantly better than the one they've just received".

"What seems strange is that in a negotiation, that you would go one worse than the last offer."

The rejected offer from the previous government, of "$4000 and 4 percent", had "none of the clawbacks which are in the current offer", Andersen said.

"We were going to back pay it to April and this offer is only backpaid to November, that's a significant loss to those frontline officers who are struggling to pay the mortgage."

Andersen said she had worked hard to find the money for the previous offer to police.

"National's talked a very big game in terms of restoring law and order, making New Zealanders feel safe - you need the support of police officers doing that work in order to deliver on those promises."

Asked whether enough money had been left in the Crown coffers by the previous government to support greater payments to police, Andersen said the coalition government had found $2.9 billion for "tax cuts for landlords".

"I would argue that that is a higher priority, to fund a front-line, than to give people who own multiple properties a tax benefit."

If the government was committed to making sure it delivered on its election promises it needed to "pay police officers what they're worth", she said.

"The reality is they're not resourcing frontline."

'Not a worse offer'

Minister of Police Mark Mitchell told Morning Report the coalition government had "inherited a very tough situation" but insisted it was negotiating in good faith.

His party campaigned on cracking down on crime and on increasing the number of frontline police officers.

"We've made a commitment to an additional 500 frontline police officers, we feel that that is important ... we've also been very clear about where we would like to see those police deployed, we want to see police back on the beat, highly visible in their communities."

Mitchell said police and the association were meeting on Thursday and negotiations were ongoing.

"I can't talk to the detail around that - it would be inappropriate for me as minister, but what I can tell you is that we are there in good faith and we are doing the best that we can."

He said the pay negotiations should have been "closed out last year" but the previous government's offer had been "roundly rejected".

"We tried to bring this back as quickly as we could because we understood that there was frustration that the previous government hadn't actually closed this out."

The government's offer to police was "not a worse offer" than what they had been offered by the last government, he said.

Mitchell refused to comment on whether he felt police were being fairly paid given the pressure on them to deliver on National's campaign promises, citing the ongoing negotiations.

"We are the party of law and order ... we are in pay negotiations at the moment, we are there in good faith," he said.

"We've had 2000 days of a Labour government that's put us in this situation, we've had a hundred days of a National government that's working hard for all New Zealanders to try and turn that round.

"Everyone is feeling the pinch, we get that, we understand that, we're very sensitive to that, we're doing the best that we can, and especially with this pay negotiation, we are there in good faith and we are listening."

The offer on the table

Police have described the government's pay offer as "insulting", "disgusting" and "demoralising".

Police Association Te Aka Hāpai president Chris Cahill told RNZ's Checkpoint on Tuesday it would trigger a spike in officers leaving the force.

"We know from their feedback, we've had over 900 emails, a lot of social media, many officers were just waiting to see if this offer would counter the lure of Australia," he said.

"And remember a lot of people that join the police, they come from professions, they come from trades, they do have other options to go back to."

What's in the offer?

• A wage increase of $5000 from 1 November 2023, with allowances moving by 5.25 percent (not backdated to 1 July)
• A further wage increase of 4 percent from 1 September 2024, with allowances increasing by 4 percent (delayed, and not effective from 1 July 2024)
• Final wage increase of 4 percent from 1 July 2025, with allowances increasing by 4 percent
• Police propose a pilot to test the mechanisms required to move to pay overtime by 30 June 2026 or earlier
• Replace all meal and incidental allowances with reimbursement of expenses
• The current 45 days leave accumulation reduced to 35 days

Cahill said the last pay rise was two years ago at 3.5 percent, when inflation that year was at 7.2 percent

What does the Police Association say is wrong with the offer?

• No backdating, despite all the delay being on the part of the government
• No benefit for health checks
• Expenses reimbursed instead of paying officers an allowance
• Three-year term instead of two means more "crystal ball gazing" in an uncertain environment