The Police Association, the trade union for some police officers, is fuming after claiming they have been excluded from the initial consultation process on the government’s review of the gun registry set up in 2023. ACT Party Associate Minister of Justice, Nicole McKee, with responsibility for firearms reform, has declined official advice to consult with the police trade union, saying that the government had already consulted with NZ Police and the union would be free to make submissions on any reforms that may result from the review during the Select Committee process, just like anyone else.
While the Police Association union claims to represent 99 per cent of constabulary, police across all ranks and 75 per cent of police employees, that hardly makes them an appropriate organisation to obtain a privileged position in the consultation process. Ultimately, like other unions that comment on government policy, such as the PPTA and NZEI in the education sector, the Police Association’s policy advice will be based on what they consider to be the interests of their members, not good public policy. The NZ Police itself, which is 100 per cent of police staff, should be more focused on enforcing the law rather than writing it, but ultimately their advice on the practicality of enforcing legal reforms is of greater importance than a self-interested trade unions’.
