PM outlines priorities for Ginny Andersen as she replaces Stuart Nash as Police Minister

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has defended overlooking former police officer and ex-president of the Police Association Greg O’Connor for the role of Police Minister.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking this morning Hipkins assured him he believed new Cabinet minister Ginny Andersen was the right person for the role.

“They have different experiences at different roles. Greg has had a long association with the police and he continues to do so… with the Police Association in particular.”

Hosking asked: “Don’t you like him by the way? Is that the problem? Has he done something wrong? I can’t work out why a man experienced with the police wouldn’t be the police minister and you pick a woman who has been in Cabinet for two months.”

Hipkins said he spoke regularly with O’Connor and spent time with him “but I think Ginny is going to make a brilliant Police Minister”.

‘I’ll be getting stuck right in’

Andersen will be under no illusions as to her priorities as she takes over the portfolio from Stuart Nash.

Hipkins rattled off several key areas he wants his fellow Hutt Valley local to focus on after naming her to succeed Nash following repeated breaches of the Cabinet manual by the Napier MP.

Andersen, unavailable for an interview because she was busy being briefed on her new portfolio, said in a statement she recognised the importance of Kiwis having confidence in the police, having worked with them for nearly a decade.

“New Zealanders deserve to feel safe in their communities and I’ll be giving it everything I’ve got.

“Police do incredible work every single day. I’m looking forward to getting out and about and seeing their work on the ground and in our communities.

“I’ll be getting stuck right in, we’ve got work to do.”

Ginny Andersen became a Cabinet minister this year when Chris Hipkins took over as Prime Minister. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Andersen, the MP for Hutt South, became a minister only this year when Hipkins appointed her Minister of Digital Economy and Communications, Seniors, and Small Business.

Police Association president Chris Cahill told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Andersen was someone who “is engaged and wants the portfolio” and this was something the association has said they wanted in the new minister.

Cahill said a few good police ministers were those who actually listened, wanted to see what was happening and ask what needed to be changed.

”Ginny already rang me and asked what’s the big issue, I told her the public needs more visibility and she discussed that.”

Cahill said there was a lot of work to be done and Anderson would “certainly need to step up”.

Andersen had worked across multiple issues during justice select committee relating to gangs, methamphetamine and ethnic issues which would help.

”It would be good walking into the portfolio with some of that work. Her husband is an ex-policeman, and a dog handler so he would know exactly how things are.”

National police spokesman Mark Mitchell pointed to Andersen’s level of ministerial experience and claimed it was a signal from Labour that the Government had “given up on law and order”.

“They’ve appointed a minister with less than two months experience at the bottom of the Cabinet rankings at a time when the country is experiencing the worst crime levels it has ever seen.”

Mitchell earlier today published a statement citing police data that showed total reported victimisations had increased from 241,000 in 2017 to more than 350,000 in 2022 - a 45 per cent increase.

Hipkins, who was Police Minister before becoming Prime Minister and had a personal interest in the portfolio, said he would be having conversations with Andersen over the coming days in light of his reprioritisation of the Government’s bloated work programme, which has led to several policies of the Ardern Government being ditched to focus on the high cost of living.

Asked what he’d like Andersen to focus on, Hipkins first mentioned retail crime before adding youth offending, organised crime and legislation targeting gangs to her list.

“[Retail crime is] an area where I know the public wants to see the Government making good progress so we’ll continue to do that,” he said.

“The focus around youth offending, making sure that we’re targeting those prolific youth offenders and getting them back engaged in something more positive so that the pattern of offending is broken.

“The work that the police have been doing around organised crime and gangs needs to continue to have a ministerial focus, I mean, these are operational matters for the police but I’d expect a Minister of Police to be taking an interest in making sure that they’re being kept up to date with the work police are doing in that area.

“And then working with the Minister of Justice [Kiri Allan] and seeing through the current legislation that we’ve got before the house around organised crime.”

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is confident Ginny Andersen will be a competent Police Minister. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The legislation Hipkins was referring to included the Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Bill and the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Amendment Bill, which expanded police’s seizure and warrant powers with respect to gang activity, among other changes.

One of the reasons Nash had to resign as Police Minister was because the Napier MP had publicly acknowledged that in 2021, in between his stints as Police Minister, he had contacted Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to question whether police would appeal a court decision he felt wasn’t tough enough - actions that were considered breaches of the Cabinet Manual and the Policing Act.

Hipkins referenced Andersen’s experience working for the police when explaining why he was confident she could “forge a good working relationship” with officials including the commissioner.

“When I’ve looked at what I’ve wanted to see from the minister of police, I think she’s very well suited to take up that role,” Hipkins said.

“It is a big portfolio and I have confidence in Ginny and her ability to tackle it.”

Hipkins rebuffed any suggestion Andersen’s appointment indicated the Government did not prioritise law and order, saying he would be monitoring work done in that space, given his own interest.

Oddly, Hipkins was unable to detail Andersen’s specific experience with police, except to say she had worked there for a decade.

A later statement from his office said Andersen started with the police as a senior policy adviser before progressing to be a policy manager at the national police headquarters.

She advised on Māori, Pacific and ethnic services with a focus on reducing Māori offending. As a policy manager, her main areas of work were methamphetamine and organised crime.

Andersen was also seconded into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet during former PM John Key’s administration to work on the Tackling Methamphetamine Action Plan.

In an interview with the Herald soon after her promotion to Cabinet in January, Andersen said she felt honoured and was “really excited about what lies ahead”.

She recalled her love of Great Barrier Island where she spent a lot of her childhood.

“We ran free and wild, the rule was to be home before it got dark and you just played with kids on the beach until it got dark or your mum yelled.”

Having once described herself as a hippie, Andersen said her open-minded parents had motivated her to challenge herself, referencing her interest in learning te reo Māori “before it was PC [politically correct]”.

“I probably wouldn’t have made some of those early decisions in my life without their help and support and they’ve always been pretty liberally minded.”