5701 (2025). Shanan Halbert to the Minister of Police

5701 (2025). Shanan Halbert to the Minister of Police: What actions, if any, is he taking to ensure the safety of the rainbow community after the recent incidents that took place in Auckland during pride events?

Hon Mark Mitchell: Sufficient policing and protections were provided for the recent Auckland Pride events. A significant police presence was proactively deployed to a number of Pride events and staff responded quickly and professionally on receiving reports of the protest at Te Atatū library. Police is undertaking a range of activities to support Rainbow Communities and is proactively working with other agencies to play their part in identifying and mitigating risk. Police is also actively engaging with Rainbow event organisers and local community partners across the country to provide advice on how to prepare and respond to threatening and/or criminal behaviour. Police is continuously training staff to better respond to Rainbow Communities and internal networks are being strengthened to better enable sharing of Rainbow expertise. Additionally, the Police Te Raranga programme is enabling staff to better recognise, record, respond to and resolve hate-motivated crime. Police training on Rainbow communities includes the Rainbow 101 E-learning module, which gives staff a brief overview of Rainbow communities and equips staff to create a safe and welcoming environment when engaging with Rainbow communities. Internal networks include Diversity Liaison Officers (DLOs), who are Police staff that volunteer time to act as a liaison between Police and Rainbow Communities, as well as The Next Generation, an employee led network that Liaises and actively supports Police employees and networks to enable some of our most vulnerable communities to Be Safe and Feel Safe.