When Police Minister Stuart Nash and minister responsible for road safety Julie Anne Genter were in Opposition they were "furious" about dropping rates of breath testing, says 1 NEWS political reporter Benedict Collins on Inside Parliament.
"Now they don't want to talk."
Inside Parliament is a weekly podcast where the 1 NEWS politics team discuss the background of their stories.
"Warriors in Opposition, mice in power," he said.
It comes as 350,000 fewer roadside breath tests were conducted in 2018 than the previous year.
In 2013, 3 million roadside tests were conducted. Last year saw less than half that number.
Figures released by the Official Information Act showed 1.4 million people were tested in 2018, compared to 1.75 million in 2017. In 2016 1.9 million people were tested and in 2013, 3 million were tested.
When the 2017 drop was reported, then-Police Minister Paula Bennett refused to be interviewed, saying it was an operational matter.
At the time, the then Labour police spokesperson Mr Nash said the decrease was sending "the wrong message".
"What I would like to see is actually an increase in the number of breath tests because that says to me that the police are on their game not only to keep us safe but to put the bad guys behind bars," reported RNZ.
Collins notes that now "the shoe's on the other foot.
"Nash and Genter are ministers now, not in Opposition, it's all turned around. Julie Anne Genter doesn't want to be interviewed. Stuart Nash... doesn't want to comment."
Ms Genter provided 1 NEWS with a written statement: "The drop in the number of roadside breath tests, and the impact this may have on road safety outcomes, is of real concern for me. I have asked officials to report to me in April on the proposed road policing activities for this period, including the rationale for the approach to drink-driving enforcement."
Collins said National are now happy to comment, with Chris Bishop saying the drop in the last year was a concern.
"I think over time it does change people's behaviour because when people know that there's a chance they're going to be breath tested they do think about what they're drinking," he said yesterday on TVNZ1's Breakfast. "If you don't test people then you don't get that behavioural change over time and stop that drink driving."
National's police spokesman says he is not confident in the Government's road safety strategy.
In politics, TVNZ political editor Jessica Mutch McKay noted, "everything is cyclical".
Collins, who broke the story, also spoke to AA officials. They noted that the road toll was rising and the number of people dying in drink driving accidents was also rising.
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