Minister Tolley Once Again Gives Misleading Answer in House

The Minister of Social Development Anne Tolley is sadly lacking in knowledge or she has deliberately misled Parliament over funding for the Sex Offenders Register, says New Zealand First Spokesperson for Social Development Darroch Ball.

“New Zealand First asked the Minister in Parliament how much of the $146 million cost to establish the register and operate it would come from new funding.

“There was no figure given, just deflection. The Minister’s answer was ‘it’s a 10-year cost that has been identified and there are four-year budgets … expenditure will appear in the following six-year budgets’.

The Minister has not read her own Regulatory Impact Statement which states, on page 4:

1. Some capital components and all field operating costs for the Register and risk management framework amounting to $85.1 million over ten years will be met from within existing baselines.

2. $9.1 million will be absorbed by Corrections through efficiency gains.

3. Police will absorb the cost of its new activity ($14.1 million) through achieving more effective utilisation of existing staff.

“Either the Minister was deliberately misleading the House by not mentioning these figures, or she has shown how completely out of touch she is with how her own bill,” says Mr Ball.

“Hopefully the Minister will take the opportunity to read the impact statement, re-address the questions we asked and clarify the funding to Parliament.”

ENDS

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