Mark Mitchell Photo: RNZ
The head of the police union says the government made a "clearly wrong" choice to give billions of dollars of tax reductions to landlords and "insult" police officers with a "dismal" pay offer.
But Police Minister Mark Mitchell disagrees, saying the new government is "doing the best that we can".
Police have described their new pay offer as "insulting", "disgusting" and "demoralising".
After rejecting the government's offer initially in September 2023, police were presented with the same offer on Friday.
But considering the time that had passed, Police Association Te Aka Hāpai president Chris Cahill said on Tuesday it was actually now worth about $2000 less.
Mitchell said the government was negotiating in "tough economic times", while insisting it would not break its promise to recruit more police.
Asked on Checkpoint if paying police better was more important than tax cuts for landlords, Cahill said he believed so.
"I'd say times are tough, but the government has choices and clearly in this case, you know, this week they've decided to prioritise landlords with a $3 billion tax reduction… That's just clearly wrong in our books.
"Officers are working harder than ever and that's the ironic thing. The government wants them to work harder, they want them to crack down on the gangs and the gang patches, they want them to reduce the road toll, which is totally understandable. But they've got to support the police if they want these things to be delivered."
Cahill warned it would trigger a spike in officers leaving the force as a result.
"I think you've got a significant problem with officers talking about leaving. You know, they want to recruit 500 more - they really need to hang on to the ones they've got. And 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.
"And, 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."
Speaking to media on Tuesday afternoon, Mitchell said the government would continue to engage in good faith.
"I'm not going to get into the detail of the offer. I've been in this position as police officer."
Asked whether he would accept the offer, as a former police officer, he said "that was then, this is now".
Chris Cahill Photo: ©VNP / Phil Smith
"We are in a tough economic situation and we are doing the best that we can. We want to start improving our own economic outlook as a country."
Cahill said the choice was in the government's hands.
"Choices. They've made choices around landlords… I believe we're being picked on or were discriminated [against] because we cannot take industrial action. You know, the nurses, the teachers, the fire [fighters], they all took industrial action to get settlements. Because we can't, we're being taken advantage of it.
"And that's an important thing. Officers don't have the ability to take industrial action, so they really do need to be respected when there's offers of pay made. And to give us a reduced offer than what was offered last year is really an insult."
He said over 20 years, nurses could now earn up to $240,000 more than a police officer over the same time period.
"And I don't think anyone's saying nurses are overpaid, but clearly it shows a police constable is underpaid."
A thinner blue line?
Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen questioned how the government could stack up its tough-on-crime agenda with such an offer to those tasked with carrying it out.
Ginny Andersen Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
"If Mark Mitchell expects frontline officers to go and remove gang patches, and to go into more dangerous situations, then the very least they can do is give them the pay and give them those additional health checks that are currently devoid in this offer."
Andersen said Australia would be looking like an even more attractive prospect to New Zealand officers.
"That's a real risk to having safety in our communities, but it's even more of a risk to the government's promise of delivering 500 [extra officers] in two years. It's just impossible."
The head of the police recently said police attrition was about 5 percent. Cahill suggested that was when officers were waiting to see what the renewed offer from the government would be.
"I think he's hoping that these people that have indicated they want to leave and are waiting for this pay round won't do it, but he's certainly recruiting. We know they're struggling big time, you know, and they can't refill recruit wings.
"They haven't been able to fill them for a number of months now. The risk of officers walking out the door after this offer is incredibly high. So I think he needs to be very careful when he says there isn't a problem."
Earlier, Mitchell said it was "no secret that I love our police service".
"I know that they have been under enormous pressure. We are engaging in good faith with the Police Association."
Asked what the government was doing now to stop violent crime, Mitchell pointed to the youth military academies. He said it was going to take some of the "worst violent offenders" off the streets.
He was "empathetic" with scared shop owners, and said further initiatives would be coming to target retail crime, but would not speculate on what they would be.
"It's awful and like I said, there's a massive human cost to this. Most of my adult life, when you look at it, has been dedicated to public safety."
He went to sleep thinking about retail crime, he said.
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 association say is wrong with it?
- No backdating, despite all the delay being on the part of the government
- No benefit for health checks
- Expenses reimbursed expenses instead of paying officers an allowance
- Three-year term instead of two means more "crystal ball gazing" in an uncertain environment