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Speaker 1: Wonder why it's an issue. So what you're going to

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Speaker 1: do is get into America illegally, hang out long enough

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Speaker 1: and find somebody who'll guard. Nowhere about it? Is that

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Speaker 1: how works politics? Wednesday after eight by the way, Mark Mitchell,

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Speaker 1: Ginny Anderson, of course, being a Wednesday meantime of twenty

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Speaker 1: two minutes away from a more interesting developments out of

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Speaker 1: their first scrutiny week to speak, Jerry brownly wants to

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Speaker 1: do security for politicians when they're out in the community.

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Speaker 1: Is also considering giving parliament security guards the power to

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Speaker 1: arrest and detain. Ninety eight percent of MPs have reported

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Speaker 1: experiencing some sort of harassment. Now, political commentator Peter Duns

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Speaker 1: with us on this. Peter, very good morning to you.

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Speaker 1: I'm wanding make so let's separate them out first of all,

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Speaker 1: the community. Is he right? Does he have a point

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Speaker 1: and if he does, how would you go about it?

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Speaker 2: I think he is right, and there's been a long

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Speaker 2: standing issue and we've seen incidences overseas that Joe Cox

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Speaker 2: case in the United Kingdom where he was murdered outside

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Speaker 2: her electoral office. I think there is an increasing risk

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Speaker 2: to security because most of the time out in the community.

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Speaker 2: Mpter are by themselves don't have security with them for

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Speaker 2: often just there on their own, and they are at

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Speaker 2: great risk. So I think you've got to draw a

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Speaker 2: line between protecting their privacy but also protecting the publiics

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Speaker 2: right to have access to them. So I think he's

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Speaker 2: right on that score. I'm a little bit more wary

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Speaker 2: about round Parliament though. I don't like the idea of

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Speaker 2: security staff being given the power to arrest there. I mean,

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Speaker 2: that's traditionally the role of the police. I do think

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Speaker 2: there can be some upgrading of security, but I think

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Speaker 2: again you've got to get that balance between public access

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Speaker 2: and the protection of the individual and the institution.

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Speaker 1: We would be one of the most free wheeling parliaments

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Speaker 1: in the world in terms of security, wouldn't we.

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Speaker 2: I think we are in mean sexas that's a good thing.

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Speaker 2: We don't want to compromise that. On the other hand,

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Speaker 2: we've got to recognize that we're in an environment where

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Speaker 2: sometimes those things can be a bit of a luxury.

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Speaker 2: We were all shocked a couple of years ago when

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Speaker 2: Parliament grounds were occupied for two weeks, for instance, so

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Speaker 2: it shows you how vulnerable we are. But again it's

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Speaker 2: just where you draw the line and how you achieve

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Speaker 2: the right balance. I think the thing we've got to

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Speaker 2: avoid is any one of our politicians being subject to

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Speaker 2: unreasonable harassment, even something more serious than that. And as

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Speaker 2: I say, take for Joe Cox example, potentially subject to

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Speaker 2: being killed.

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Speaker 1: That's a real logistical exercise, though, isn't it, Because you've

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Speaker 1: got a lot of MPs and that would be a

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Speaker 1: lot of resource in a lot of the times. You know,

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Speaker 1: when do you draw the line, when do you get protected,

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Speaker 1: when don't you get protected? And for how long? And

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Speaker 1: how does that cost and what about resources and all

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Speaker 1: of that.

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Speaker 2: I think yes, and it cuts two ways. I mean,

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Speaker 2: where I think MPs are most at risk are in

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Speaker 2: their electorates on the weekend when they're out and their

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Speaker 2: offices seeing constituents are often by themselves. So I think,

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Speaker 2: on the one hand, there needs to be a better

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Speaker 2: security for those officers. On the other hand, I think

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Speaker 2: there needs to be better if you like information to

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Speaker 2: MPs about how they keep themselves out of situations where

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Speaker 2: they're going to be an undue risk. I just reflect

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Speaker 2: on one occasion when I was an MP, being in

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Speaker 2: my electorate office. One Saturday and having a guy coming

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Speaker 2: and wielding a knife, not at me, but just at

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Speaker 2: the World at General, and there was two of us

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Speaker 2: in the room thinking afterwards that was a very silly

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Speaker 2: situation I should have avoided. So there's that sort of

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Speaker 2: education you've got to give people to protect themselves, but

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Speaker 2: at the same time not place them in undue risk.

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Speaker 1: Does Jerry Brownly have the power to give guards the

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Speaker 1: right to arrest or not? Do you know?

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Speaker 2: I don't think he does. I think that's interested a

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Speaker 2: power that would have to come from Parliament, and I

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Speaker 2: think that would require considerable thought and change. As I say,

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Speaker 2: traditionally the part of arrest and his eland resides with

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Speaker 2: the police.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, because I immediately thought that what he's doing

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Speaker 1: is trying to protect the MP's and if he gave

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Speaker 1: them that power, then I'm watching a video there's one

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Speaker 1: doing runs on social media, couple of guys just walking

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Speaker 1: out with beer and meet from the supermarket, and the

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Speaker 1: guards at the supermarkets can't touch these people these days,

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Speaker 1: So you'd be protecting MP's with a power that a

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Speaker 1: guard of the supermarket wouldn't have, and that would strike

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Speaker 1: many New Zealand design suspect is unfair.

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Speaker 2: I think that's right, and I think that's where this

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Speaker 2: has got to be thought through much more carefully. I

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Speaker 2: think Jerry Brown is right to raise the concern, but

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Speaker 2: the practical implications of how you resolved, I think need

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Speaker 2: to be thought through more caffee so you don't get

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Speaker 2: an unbalanced situation where you're say, you know, the shopkeeper

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Speaker 2: has got no protection, but the MP has got all

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Speaker 2: the protection.

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Speaker 1: Exactly good to see him make appreciate it has always

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Speaker 1: Peter done, political commentator. It is eighteen minutes away from it.

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Speaker 2: For more the My Asking Breakfast, listen live to News

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Speaker 2: Talk Set B from six am weekdays, or follow the

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