December 16, 2025 • 11 mins
Mark Mitchell is acknowledging the wins he had in 2025.
It’s been a busy year, the Minister dealing with a range of emergencies across the country, plus the hefty police portfolio.
He told Kerre Woodham that although there’s a lot of negative headlines throughout the year, we should be extremely proud of ourselves as a country.
Mitchell says there’s a lot more going on than there is bad.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the carry Wood and Morning's podcast from
News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be the how.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
We're joined by Minister Lise Mark Mitchell to talk about
his wins for the year, his focus for twenty twenty six.
Good morning to you. A new police deputy commissioner appointed
and a former one to be sentenced. She's been a
busy old year for you.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It's been a really big year, Carrie. Thank you for
having me on this morning too. I really appreciate it
because it's a nice way to wrap up the year.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well it is, and I think it is. When you're
so busy and you're so in the middle of everything
you're doing, it's sometimes a good opportunity to look back
and go, huh, okay, well you know that worked and
we did that, and that's effective, and acknowledge the wins.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Absolutely and it's a nice time to actually put your
head up and remember all the people around you that
have been for me personally, been a tremendous support. Extremely
proud of my team here because we've had a lot
to deal with obviously this year with the mood, with
emergency management, I've had, you know, a lot of local
states for emergency this year. So I get to get
(01:13):
I've got the privilege of being out in the communities
and just see how they respond at a time when
there's lots of stress and anxiety, and you see these
communities step forward with courage, you know, with kindness and
you know, and a willingness to make sure that we
look after each other as key we So we get
a lot of negative headlines, we talk about a lot
of negative stuff through the year, but we should just
(01:35):
be extremely proud of ourselves as a country because I
actually think we're doing really well and there's a lot
more good going on there is bad.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
We do. You have to remember that, don't you, Like
in the midst of the horror of Bondai, you have
to remember that there are so many stories of courage
and bravery and human decency that far out weigh the mindless,
senseless violence.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Well, and we've seen those stories emerged now. And I
mean you had up met our lacmed that obviously we
all see the footage of that and the outstanding courage
and bravery that he displayed and disarming the gunman, one
of the gunmen. But yes, I agree with you, complete
total tragedy in terms of what's unfolded in Bondi. But
we're always it's always balanced against the acts of heroism
(02:17):
and sacrifice that you know, in this case, the Australians
were making for one another and we see that happen,
you know, not not obviously we don't want a situation
like Bondi and we remember that we had our own
terrible mosque shooting and christ yes, but you but every
time we're down, every time we're dealing with something that is,
(02:38):
you know, with a huge human costs, you always see
the strength of our people and the communities and the
heroes that step forward.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
What sort of heart are the you have been really
busy in and it was quite right to remember that
your civil defense had but I'll go onto that in
a minute. But what sort of heart are the police?
And at the moment, because the rank and file have
been rocked by this, they're tainted by the bad apples.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes they have and on itstremely proud of the work
that they've done. This year, we've seen a reduction in
violent retail crime. We've seen a huge reduction and victims
of serious violent crime, and that is attributable to the
hard work and focus of our frontline police officers and
any our non sworn all of them that were together
(03:25):
to make sure they're serving the public. But it has
been a very tough year, there is no doubt about that.
When you saw the whole situation unfolded with a deputy
statutory appointed Deputy Commissioner at skimming and the charges laid
against him. When you saw the i p c A
report that was released and the total lack of integrity
and lack of a moral compass in terms of the
(03:47):
behavior of our most senior police officers. Yes, our frontline
felt betrayed, you know. But the nice thing about it
carrier if there's a positive, and this was the bit
that I was very when I read that i p
c A report. My immediate thoughts were, it's worse than
I thought it was going to be. And on the
(04:09):
flip side of that is, I got a lump in
my throat when I read about the police officers that
actually stood up, Oh yees yeah and did the right thing.
But I knew that we have to come out as
a gun with a very strong response so that we
could try and maintain that public confidence in our police
and in a hope that the public would work out
that this was a very small group of people, albeit
(04:30):
at the top of police, and this was not indicative
or a reflection of the outstanding work. There are fifteen
thousand sworn and non sworn members turn up every day
to deliver those services to our country.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Well, it's like, did it was? I can't remember official title,
Nicola working with sexual crime? Her Tanya Kurda got in
to investigate, and apparently there was some sort of oh,
it's very difficult to talk to the woman and she said, no,
it's not. This is standard police practice. You know, it's
like like her her immediate response was, this is there's
(05:05):
nothing tricky about this, you know, this is this is policing.
We talk to the complainant and we talk to the
person they're complaining to, at standard practice, whoever the hell
they are. And I love that that was her immediate response. No,
I don't know how can this even be thought to
be difficult?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yes? Absolutely, and I agree entirely. And the other thing
that was really nice is that you know, you can
have the commissioner, who, by the way, is quite simply
has been outstanding since he's taken over and has totally
met our expectations from a government point of view, but
you can have both the Commissioner and I stand up
and say look, please, you know, we want to reassure
you we're taking the steps that we need to that
(05:45):
this can't happen again. You can continue to have confidence
in our police. But when you get someone like Louise
Nicholas and the trials and tribulations that she's been through
and there because see that she's provided and the work
that she's done right alongside of police to make sure
that we hone and deliver the best possible support and
services to women that are victims of sex offending in violence.
(06:08):
And when she comes out and says you can absolutely
have confidence in police. You know, we should condemn the
action of these few, but we should maintain the confidence
of those officers that are turning up every day to
make sure they're making a difference. That she had, she
had a very strong voice in this. Yeah, and you know,
and I was very thankful for that.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
How's the Auckland Police College working out?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
That's going really well? So we've had I was at
the graduation the other day. It was the Sir John
key Wing. He was an outstanding patron and spent a
lot of time with them and it was nice. I
went on their first day when they came in, and
it was nice to be at their graduation the other
day and then and that's what fills you, really fills
your cup when you when you're dealing with all the
negative stuff. To get out there and see our fine
(06:52):
young police officers that are graduating, that have got fire
in their belly, extremely proud and ready to get out
there and conduct what I think is outstanding public service.
It just reminds you that we're in such a good
place as a country.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
So what are the wines in the police portfolio? And
then I'll ask you about civil defense and trying to
get a better comprehensive response unit across the country, all
linked up that successive governments have been working on.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I think for me the first twelve months as Police
Minister was a real challenge and a real test for
me because I did have a police executive that although
integrity issues were emerging, I definitely had issues around capability
and delivery. So the appointment of Richard Chambers as the
Police Commissioner was a highlight and he has just brought
(07:39):
outstanding focus and leadership to that role. That's what was needed.
I think that we've seen a reduction, a huge reduction
and victimizations and those kiwis being victims of violent offending
that's coming down. We've got to make no mistake. There's
a lot more work to do, but we're training in
the right direction. And then you would have seen today
there were some new stats released showing that there's a
(08:01):
definite trend downwards in terms of twelve percent reduction and
violent retail crime. And that has been a real focus
for me because I spent a few years getting around
and visiting the shopkeepers and their employees and sometimes customers
that got caught up in this violent retail crime and
it has a huge human cost associated with it, and
(08:22):
it had been on the rise, and it's good to
see that we not only have slowed it down, but
we're now reversing it and it's coming down.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
And looking ahead to twenty six, what are your hopes
for your police portfolio?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Just a continued visible, strong leadership with a focus on
standards and integrity and probably not much different to my
original leader of intent, which is baked basics, highly visible,
you know, and they're delivering on that and they're just doing.
They're quite simply doing an outstanding job. And when I
get around, I was down with the traffic one of
(08:59):
the traffic teams yesterday with Chris Bishop with our rollout
on the drug testing, and you just see that. So
good at that stuff. They're good at operationalizing it. They're
deeply passionate about what they're doing and the results are
coming through. And so as a country, we should be
extremely proud of our New Zealand Police force.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
And just finally on the civil defense, their successive governments
have been looking for ways to try and join the
bits together to have a more cohesive response to our
civil defense. There really hasn't been time in between all
the having to respond to events. I mean.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
We are, yeah, we are going to continue to have events.
I've had nineteen local states emergency that I've been at
since I've been the minister in that's two years, so
we do have quite a few. We've come a long way.
I received the report from Sidieri Mataprie after cyclone Gabriel,
which was a tragedy for us, lots of lessons learned.
We didn't wait to get those recommendations. The whole system
(09:56):
had already responded and in my view, we've got quality
leadership throughout the country, whether it be the mayor's, the
chief executives, the CDIUM controllers, our first respect community groups,
rural sector. You know, Ewei and HAPU were very good,
Maria very good at emergency management and as a result,
(10:17):
you know, of those nineteen local states of emergency, they've
gone very well or as well as they can be
when you're dealing with the sort of weather events that
we have to deal with. So we're in a good space.
But on saying that, I've just introduced new legislation that's
going to provide us with a really solid platform as
a country to be able to identify and manage our risk.
I want to give a shout out to my NIMA
(10:37):
team and all the people that worked on that policy.
It was a lot of work, it was a lot
of late nights, but when it was introduced to the House,
it was really nice to see that there was a
cross party by partisan support for it. And then I'm
taking some MSOP what we call MSOP papers through cabinet
in terms of some investment around a common operating picture
for us as a country and things like that.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Excellent, and what are you doing over the break mark.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
So the break I am looking forward to my door
and son in law and my little two year old
granddaughter live in Dubai. So Sarah and I get on
a flight on Sunday to meet them halfway and Bali
and I'm going to have ten days with them, and
I'm really looking forward to that year.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Oh, I bet you enjoy and I look forward to
talking with you in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Kirie. I just want to get so thank you to you,
because I get to see you a lot in public
life with you and seeing different events and things like that.
But I just want to say that I'll never forget
when my sister ran that fundraiser for the Mental Health
Foundation and you gave up your time and you turned
up there and you supported that. And I don't know
if people always see that, but I wanted to say
a big, deep thank you for everything that you do,
(11:45):
and a Merry Christmas to Helen as well.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
For more from Carrie Wood and Mornings, Listen late to
news Talks it'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the carry Wood and Morning's podcast from
News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be the how.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
We're joined by Minister Lise Mark Mitchell to talk about
his wins for the year, his focus for twenty twenty six.
Good morning to you. A new police deputy commissioner appointed
and a former one to be sentenced. She's been a
busy old year for you.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It's been a really big year, Carrie. Thank you for
having me on this morning too. I really appreciate it
because it's a nice way to wrap up the year.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well it is, and I think it is. When you're
so busy and you're so in the middle of everything
you're doing, it's sometimes a good opportunity to look back
and go, huh, okay, well you know that worked and
we did that, and that's effective, and acknowledge the wins.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Absolutely and it's a nice time to actually put your
head up and remember all the people around you that
have been for me personally, been a tremendous support. Extremely
proud of my team here because we've had a lot
to deal with obviously this year with the mood, with
emergency management, I've had, you know, a lot of local
states for emergency this year. So I get to get
(01:13):
I've got the privilege of being out in the communities
and just see how they respond at a time when
there's lots of stress and anxiety, and you see these
communities step forward with courage, you know, with kindness and
you know, and a willingness to make sure that we
look after each other as key we So we get
a lot of negative headlines, we talk about a lot
of negative stuff through the year, but we should just
(01:35):
be extremely proud of ourselves as a country because I
actually think we're doing really well and there's a lot
more good going on there is bad.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
We do. You have to remember that, don't you, Like
in the midst of the horror of Bondai, you have
to remember that there are so many stories of courage
and bravery and human decency that far out weigh the mindless,
senseless violence.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Well, and we've seen those stories emerged now. And I
mean you had up met our lacmed that obviously we
all see the footage of that and the outstanding courage
and bravery that he displayed and disarming the gunman, one
of the gunmen. But yes, I agree with you, complete
total tragedy in terms of what's unfolded in Bondi. But
we're always it's always balanced against the acts of heroism
(02:17):
and sacrifice that you know, in this case, the Australians
were making for one another and we see that happen,
you know, not not obviously we don't want a situation
like Bondi and we remember that we had our own
terrible mosque shooting and christ yes, but you but every
time we're down, every time we're dealing with something that is,
(02:38):
you know, with a huge human costs, you always see
the strength of our people and the communities and the
heroes that step forward.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
What sort of heart are the you have been really
busy in and it was quite right to remember that
your civil defense had but I'll go onto that in
a minute. But what sort of heart are the police?
And at the moment, because the rank and file have
been rocked by this, they're tainted by the bad apples.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes they have and on itstremely proud of the work
that they've done. This year, we've seen a reduction in
violent retail crime. We've seen a huge reduction and victims
of serious violent crime, and that is attributable to the
hard work and focus of our frontline police officers and
any our non sworn all of them that were together
(03:25):
to make sure they're serving the public. But it has
been a very tough year, there is no doubt about that.
When you saw the whole situation unfolded with a deputy
statutory appointed Deputy Commissioner at skimming and the charges laid
against him. When you saw the i p c A
report that was released and the total lack of integrity
and lack of a moral compass in terms of the
(03:47):
behavior of our most senior police officers. Yes, our frontline
felt betrayed, you know. But the nice thing about it
carrier if there's a positive, and this was the bit
that I was very when I read that i p
c A report. My immediate thoughts were, it's worse than
I thought it was going to be. And on the
(04:09):
flip side of that is, I got a lump in
my throat when I read about the police officers that
actually stood up, Oh yees yeah and did the right thing.
But I knew that we have to come out as
a gun with a very strong response so that we
could try and maintain that public confidence in our police
and in a hope that the public would work out
that this was a very small group of people, albeit
(04:30):
at the top of police, and this was not indicative
or a reflection of the outstanding work. There are fifteen
thousand sworn and non sworn members turn up every day
to deliver those services to our country.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Well, it's like, did it was? I can't remember official title,
Nicola working with sexual crime? Her Tanya Kurda got in
to investigate, and apparently there was some sort of oh,
it's very difficult to talk to the woman and she said, no,
it's not. This is standard police practice. You know, it's
like like her her immediate response was, this is there's
(05:05):
nothing tricky about this, you know, this is this is policing.
We talk to the complainant and we talk to the
person they're complaining to, at standard practice, whoever the hell
they are. And I love that that was her immediate response. No,
I don't know how can this even be thought to
be difficult?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yes? Absolutely, and I agree entirely. And the other thing
that was really nice is that you know, you can
have the commissioner, who, by the way, is quite simply
has been outstanding since he's taken over and has totally
met our expectations from a government point of view, but
you can have both the Commissioner and I stand up
and say look, please, you know, we want to reassure
you we're taking the steps that we need to that
(05:45):
this can't happen again. You can continue to have confidence
in our police. But when you get someone like Louise
Nicholas and the trials and tribulations that she's been through
and there because see that she's provided and the work
that she's done right alongside of police to make sure
that we hone and deliver the best possible support and
services to women that are victims of sex offending in violence.
(06:08):
And when she comes out and says you can absolutely
have confidence in police. You know, we should condemn the
action of these few, but we should maintain the confidence
of those officers that are turning up every day to
make sure they're making a difference. That she had, she
had a very strong voice in this. Yeah, and you know,
and I was very thankful for that.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
How's the Auckland Police College working out?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
That's going really well? So we've had I was at
the graduation the other day. It was the Sir John
key Wing. He was an outstanding patron and spent a
lot of time with them and it was nice. I
went on their first day when they came in, and
it was nice to be at their graduation the other
day and then and that's what fills you, really fills
your cup when you when you're dealing with all the
negative stuff. To get out there and see our fine
(06:52):
young police officers that are graduating, that have got fire
in their belly, extremely proud and ready to get out
there and conduct what I think is outstanding public service.
It just reminds you that we're in such a good
place as a country.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
So what are the wines in the police portfolio? And
then I'll ask you about civil defense and trying to
get a better comprehensive response unit across the country, all
linked up that successive governments have been working on.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I think for me the first twelve months as Police
Minister was a real challenge and a real test for
me because I did have a police executive that although
integrity issues were emerging, I definitely had issues around capability
and delivery. So the appointment of Richard Chambers as the
Police Commissioner was a highlight and he has just brought
(07:39):
outstanding focus and leadership to that role. That's what was needed.
I think that we've seen a reduction, a huge reduction
and victimizations and those kiwis being victims of violent offending
that's coming down. We've got to make no mistake. There's
a lot more work to do, but we're training in
the right direction. And then you would have seen today
there were some new stats released showing that there's a
(08:01):
definite trend downwards in terms of twelve percent reduction and
violent retail crime. And that has been a real focus
for me because I spent a few years getting around
and visiting the shopkeepers and their employees and sometimes customers
that got caught up in this violent retail crime and
it has a huge human cost associated with it, and
(08:22):
it had been on the rise, and it's good to
see that we not only have slowed it down, but
we're now reversing it and it's coming down.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
And looking ahead to twenty six, what are your hopes
for your police portfolio?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Just a continued visible, strong leadership with a focus on
standards and integrity and probably not much different to my
original leader of intent, which is baked basics, highly visible,
you know, and they're delivering on that and they're just doing.
They're quite simply doing an outstanding job. And when I
get around, I was down with the traffic one of
(08:59):
the traffic teams yesterday with Chris Bishop with our rollout
on the drug testing, and you just see that. So
good at that stuff. They're good at operationalizing it. They're
deeply passionate about what they're doing and the results are
coming through. And so as a country, we should be
extremely proud of our New Zealand Police force.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
And just finally on the civil defense, their successive governments
have been looking for ways to try and join the
bits together to have a more cohesive response to our
civil defense. There really hasn't been time in between all
the having to respond to events. I mean.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
We are, yeah, we are going to continue to have events.
I've had nineteen local states emergency that I've been at
since I've been the minister in that's two years, so
we do have quite a few. We've come a long way.
I received the report from Sidieri Mataprie after cyclone Gabriel,
which was a tragedy for us, lots of lessons learned.
We didn't wait to get those recommendations. The whole system
(09:56):
had already responded and in my view, we've got quality
leadership throughout the country, whether it be the mayor's, the
chief executives, the CDIUM controllers, our first respect community groups,
rural sector. You know, Ewei and HAPU were very good,
Maria very good at emergency management and as a result,
(10:17):
you know, of those nineteen local states of emergency, they've
gone very well or as well as they can be
when you're dealing with the sort of weather events that
we have to deal with. So we're in a good space.
But on saying that, I've just introduced new legislation that's
going to provide us with a really solid platform as
a country to be able to identify and manage our risk.
I want to give a shout out to my NIMA
(10:37):
team and all the people that worked on that policy.
It was a lot of work, it was a lot
of late nights, but when it was introduced to the House,
it was really nice to see that there was a
cross party by partisan support for it. And then I'm
taking some MSOP what we call MSOP papers through cabinet
in terms of some investment around a common operating picture
for us as a country and things like that.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Excellent, and what are you doing over the break mark.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
So the break I am looking forward to my door
and son in law and my little two year old
granddaughter live in Dubai. So Sarah and I get on
a flight on Sunday to meet them halfway and Bali
and I'm going to have ten days with them, and
I'm really looking forward to that year.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Oh, I bet you enjoy and I look forward to
talking with you in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Kirie. I just want to get so thank you to you,
because I get to see you a lot in public
life with you and seeing different events and things like that.
But I just want to say that I'll never forget
when my sister ran that fundraiser for the Mental Health
Foundation and you gave up your time and you turned
up there and you supported that. And I don't know
if people always see that, but I wanted to say
a big, deep thank you for everything that you do,
(11:45):
and a Merry Christmas to Helen as well.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
For more from Carrie Wood and Mornings, Listen late to
news Talks it'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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