Our local police work hard to keep our communities safe and I want to commend them for everything that they do for us.

In the past six months they have dealt with a plethora of incidents across the South.

Forty police staff descended on Gore last month as part of an operation targeting methamphetamine supply.

They attended a serious crash on the Bluff Highway in February and that same month did a fantastic job keeping riders safe during the Burt Munro Challenge.

In January police investigated a tragic, fatal river incident in Fiordland and then conducted enquiries into a shark attack at Riverton.

There were reports of an increase in motor vehicles thefts in Invercargill and Southland late last year – police responded to this and made arrests.

Just weeks prior, police conducted an operation targeting firearms, cannabis and stolen property in the Eastern Southland area and this month investigations are continuing into an arson at Waikaia, with police making progress there.

Of course, all this police work goes on while our local officers also manage road safety and respond to everyday call-outs and operational matters.

We rely on our police force to keep us safe, with law and order one of the major concerns for people leading into the election.

The previous Government’s soft-on-crime approach left many Southlanders feeling anxious and unsafe.

Violent crime climbed by 33 per cent and gang membership by 51 per cent, or 3000 people, in five years.

The coalition Government has introduced new legislation to provide police with the tools to crack down on gangs.

The new powers include gang patches being banned in public places, police being able to issue dispersal notices requiring gang members to immediately leave an area and the courts will be able to issue non-consorting orders, stopping gang offenders from associating.

We appreciate that our police put their lives on the line for us. Staff in both urban and rural areas of Southland are dedicated and focussed.

It is important that they know that this Government backs them and that Southlanders do too.

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