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The Government will pour $11 million into its fog cannon subsidy scheme in an effort to deter ram raids and burglaries, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment opened applications for the $4000 subsidy in February. As many as 582 have been installed and 1664 applications have been approved. The number of applicants has been increasing every day since April.
The scheme was first announced in November with $4m after Janak Patel was murdered while working in a Sandringham dairy.
Hipkins made the announcement at a post-Cabinet briefing on Monday, where he is due to answer questions about the nation’s nation’s intelligence and security agencies after an independent review made a series of calls for change.
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The Government released the report on Monday afternoon, and it was presented to the House of Representatives. It gave 52 recommendations to ensure the law’s governing intelligence and security agencies were fit for purpose, including improving transparency.
Hipkins will answer questions about the report and give a post-Cabinet briefing from 4pm. You can watch the livestream above. Refresh the page if you can’t see it.
In a statement, he said New Zealand had experienced significant security threats.
“Since 2017 we have experienced two terror attacks, seen the rise of foreign interference, disinformation, and cyber security threats both domestically and overseas,” he said.
“It’s important we regularly check the tools we have available, and accompanying checks and balances, are appropriate to keep New Zealanders safe.”
The response to the report will be jointly led by the prime minister and Minister Responsible for the GCSB and NZSIS, Andrew Little. The Government will consult with other political parties before finalising its response.
It follows the Labour Party congress over the weekend, where Hipkins announced his Government would make Labour’s apprenticeship subsidy scheme permanent, and pledge to keep the retirement age at 65.
ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will hold the weekly post cabinet news conference in the Beehive theatrette.
National on Sunday also released a significant housing policy mostly revolving around massively liberalising the supply of land to build houses on.
Housing spokesperson Chris Bishop confirmed its stance, and said if National was in government, it would still support allowing for density and transport corridors. He also promised to introduce a $1 billion fund for councils to incentivise councils to build new housing.
It came after National Party leader Christopher Luxon withdrew his party’s support from its bipartisan agreement with Labour on housing density, saying they “got it wrong”.
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