Retail crime advisory group costs $500k in three months
Photo:
RNZ / Mark Papalii
The justice minister is defending the amount of money spent on the government's retail crime advisory group in 100 days, saying the group has come up with ideas the government will implement to better deal with retail crime.
The Labour Party says the half-million dollar sum is hard to stomach, and that ideas the group came up had previously been dismissed as being too dangerous.
But the group's chair says its budget is strictly managed and controlled, and he had robust checks and accountability measures in place.
The government has announced a suite of law-and-order reforms designed to crack down on retail crime, including on-the-spot fines for shoplifters, citizen's arrest powers, and toughened trespass laws.
The reforms were suggested by the ministerial advisory group, chaired by Sunny Kaushal.
Answering a parliamentary question from Labour's police spokesperson Ginny Andersen, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said "The Ministerial Advisory Group for Victims of Retail Crime has spent $507,468.71 from 1 March 2025 to 10 June 2025."
Those costs include personnel costs ($329,900.93), chair and member fees ($102,788.26), travel and accommodation ($9,605.71), and admin ($65,173.81).
Member remuneration is in accordance with the Cabinet fees framework, with the Ministry of Justice reimbursing invoiced fees.
On Tuesday, Goldsmith told media the MAG's budget was $1.8m a year, so it was under budget.
"The point of the advisory group is to come up with well-thought-through, oven-ready legislation for us to get on with, and that's what they've done," he said.
However, some of the policies still needed time to work through before the bill is introduced, or during the select committee process.
When announcing the trespass law changes, Goldsmith said the government would explore how best to support retailers when distributing notices to those who refuse to engage.
He also said the precise details on the use of facial recognition or CCTV to identify shoplifters would be "argued out" over the select committee process.
Andersen said it was unclear why that amount of money had been spent by the group.
She said when she was police minister, Kaushal had come to her suggesting a citizen's arrest policy, but it was dismissed as police had advised it was dangerous.
"It does seem an exorbitant amount for ideas that were given to our government for free, and ideas that have been advised as dangerous," she said.
Goldsmith, however, said he was confident the group had done what it was set up to do, and criticised Labour for not implementing such ideas.
"A lot of them weren't taken up because their government was frankly soft on crime and they weren't actually listening and making the changes that needed to be made."
Kaushal said the group operated under a clearly defined and stringently managed operating budget, controlled and overseen by the Ministry of Justice's finance team.
"In line with public expectations around the responsible use of funds, I have robust checks and accountability measures in place across all areas of expenditure," he said.
Kaushal said the group's "strict cost control and efficient operations" had already delivered a significant savings underspending from its allocated annual operating budget.
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