Speeches

Speech at the opening of new Howick police station.

George Hawkins

03.02.2004

Welcome to you all, to our distinguished guests, District Commander Superintendent Ted Cox, and other community leaders present.

Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.

Welcome to you all, to our distinguished guests, District Commander Superintendent Ted Cox, and other community leaders present.

I’d like to particularly acknowledge the role of Manukau Mayor, Sir Barry Curtis, in the opening of this station.

That we are able to be here today is due to the combined effort of the Mayor and the police who organised the lease of this building from Manukau City.

It’s a great example of the community and the police working together to overcome difficulties, in this case difficulties with the former building.

A special welcome also to the 31 sworn and five non-sworn staff of the Howick Police and their friends and families also gathered with us.

It gives me great pleasure to be opening Howick station.

Howick station looks after an area of around 198 square kilometers.

It takes in all the Howick andPakuranga Wards, plus the beachlands and Maraetei areas of the Clevedon
Ward.
In all, the staff at this station is responsible for a population of about 94,000 people.

Staff who worked in the previous station will remember it had its problems.

The newspaper photo of the old place, with the tarpaulin over the roof held down by a tyre, wasn’t a great look.

Staff put up with a lot, and it’s great to have moved on from the bad old days.

In some ways today’s the opening of this station is an historic occasion.

Howick ranks among the first New Zealand Police Stations to be opened this millennium.

I’m glad to say this project was completed below the anticipated budget allocation.

I’m told that including furniture, fittings, IT, security systems and so on, the budget was in the order of $750,000.

While there are many ways government can spend money on police are many and varied, one of the most satisfying is investing in police property.

A solid and committed police capital works programme ensures staff enjoy comfortable, satisfying conditions in which to do their important work.

Unfortunately, investment in police buildings has not always been so solid.

Between 1996 and 1999, for instance, an average of only around $725,000 a year was spent on police property in New Zealand.

That was the sum total of funds made available for every police station and facility in the country.

The Labour-led government elected in late 1999 inherited a situation where there was a lot to do, particularly as regards rescuing the police capital works programme from the doldrums.

I am pleased to say that the current government is investing around $12 million per year on the refurbishment and rebuilding of stations nationwide.

The aim is to reverse the state of disrepair that we inherited.

People sometimes ask me why the commitment to spend around $60 million over five years to rebuild and refurbish police stations?

The answer’s simple.

Police staff need and deserve good working conditions, and this includes modern police stations that will meet their needs.

Today it’s Howick’s turn.

Shortly the communities of Manurewa, Invercargill, and Oamaru, will celebrate opening new stations in their areas.

· My congratulations to those who worked on the building:

· To CANNAM contractors and subbies for bringing the building into being.

· the architects and design team at OPUS INTERNATIONAL

· to RDT PACIFIC for managing the project.
You’ve been operating from this new spot for several weeks now and I can see it’s a comfortable place and you’ve settled in well.

Thanks to you all, and here’s to the continuation of excellent policing in Howick.

I’ve no doubt staff will find their work easier because they have a decent place from which to do their job.

Thank you.

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