A July 7 public meeting on law and order saw several questions posed to Minister Paul Goldsmith about safety and drug use in Thames.
The meeting at the Thames Civic Centre was attended by around 40 people keen to hear the Minister’s views.
Thames-Coromandel councillor Martin Rodley questioned the Minister about progress on the government’s action plan to combat methamphetamine harm, announced in November last year.
The Minister said methamphetamine consumption had primarily increased due to cheaper prices and an influx of the drug reaching New Zealand shores.
“We’re tackling that from three directions, basically. Firstly, toughening up the border… Secondly, we’re focused on the distribution which is the gangs,” he said.
“Thirdly, to focus on reducing the demand, and that has a public health element to it.”
Minister Goldsmith said Police had been given extra tools to deal more effectively with gangs, along with funding for the Resilience to Organised Crime in Communities work programme, which combats the harms of meth and organised crime through community-led responses to the harms and drivers of organised crime.
“But the long and short of it is, it’s not easy to get people off meth,” he said.
“It only really happens when people are ready, and sometimes they have to hit rock bottom first… the best thing to do is to try and avoid them getting anywhere near it in the first place.”
The Minister said he did not have any specific figures for how Thames’ methamphetamine use had changed over the past year.
However, he said his general observation was that overall, meth use had plateaued over the past year or so, rather than continuing to rise.
Minister Goldsmith, who holds the justice portfolio in Parliament, also spoke about the government’s efforts to reduce the number of victims of crime, through measures such as targeting gangs and repeat offenders, tackling methamphetamine distribution and use, reducing discounts in court for people convicted of crimes, and introducing new legislation around stalking, citizen’s arrests, and “move on” orders for rough sleepers.
“When we were canvassing for the previous election, community safety and law and order issues were very topical,” he said.
“The message you’ll hear from us is that we’ve been fixing the basics and also building a future where New Zealand is continually prosperous and safe.”
While he was in Thames, Minister Goldsmith, who also holds the arts, heritage, and culture portfolio, also visited Thames Museum and Thames School of Mines to meet with staff and volunteers.
