Rt Hon Jenny Shipley
Leader of the Opposition
29 August 2000
Govt downgrades war on crime
The Government has downgraded the war on crime with the move of the Crime Prevention Unit from the Prime Minister's
Department to the policy focused Ministry of Justice, Opposition Leader Jenny Shipley said today.
"The Government is also making a mockery of their partnership commitment with Local Government.
"National set up the Crime Prevention Unit to show how serious we were at tackling the causes of crime. The Crime
Prevention Unit has granted funding to a number of good initiatives that would not have had a chance under the Ministry
of Justice.
"The Government has yielded to the whim of bureaucrats who don't like the Prime Minister's Department having control
over a separate budget for crime prevention. A dedicated unit within the Ministry of Justice simply won't have the same
grunt.
"The purpose of the Crime Prevention Unit was to indicate the priority the Government accorded crime prevention. Local
Government and community groups were able to work directly with the Prime Minister's Department in developing
initiatives to prevent crime, now they will have to fight their way through a bureaucratic jungle at the Ministry of
Justice.
"The Prime Minister has washed her hands of the Crime Prevention Unit but is content to accord the status of her office
to arts and culture. This is a true reflection of this Government's priorities regardless of the amount of spin they try
and put on it," Mrs Shipley said.
Ends