Andersen, a Hutt resident and local MP, accompanied “boy from the Hutt” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins as he toured his neighbourhood today, visiting the local marae and his old school.
Hipkins and Andersen concluded their day with a visit to Real Meat Pies - Hipkins’ favourite pie shop that, as a child, he stopped at most Saturdays.
As the pair left, it became clear Andersen’s card had declined in her attempt to purchase a delightful-looking steak and kidney pie.
However, the minister - who had not 30 minutes ago committed to reducing retail crime - appeared not to notice she had unintentionally shoplifted the pie.
The New Zealand Herald sought to make Andersen aware of the obvious accident.
In a statement, Andersen admitted the honest mistake, saying she wasn’t aware her card hadn’t worked due to the “commotion and excitement” in the shop due to the Prime Minister’s visit.
“As soon as I was informed there was a mishap, I rectified the situation and made good on the pie payment,” Andersen told the Herald.
”I’m also shouting my entire team pies from the same shop. I reached out to the owner and passed on my apologies for any inconvenience caused to the shop - they put out a great product.”
After a brief analysis, the Cabinet Manual doesn’t appear to reference ministers accidentally stealing bakery goods.
Andersen faced her first press conference as police minister today, acknowledging that she’d told Hipkins she wanted the role.
“I’ve always wanted to do police, community safety is a personal passion of mine and I’m really proud to have [Hipkins’] confidence to do this job.”
In announcing Andersen’s promotion, Hipkins outlined what he wanted her to focus on, which included retail crime, youth offending, organised crime and gang activity.
Andersen echoed these priorities when asked about her intentions in the role, explaining her approach would be based on community safety.
“My single focus will be improving community safety, I want New Zealanders to feel safe and the two areas I feel we can do better on are retail crime and repeat [offenders].”
As the Small Business Minister, Andersen said she had been encouraged by the rollout of Government-subsidised fog cannons for retailers.
She said there had been 500 applications so far with each retailer issued a voucher within 15 minutes and provided a list of 18 installers across the country.
“I think that gives those shop owners a sense of feeling safer.”
Asked about youth offending, Andersen said it was important to investigate the “underlying causes of crime”.
“I know police do a very good job of working with other partner agencies like Oranga Tamariki to help identify those high-level, repeat offenders and make sure they’re getting the support they need.”
Andersen worked with police for nearly a decade as a senior policy adviser before progressing to be a policy manager at the national police headquarters.
She advised on Māori, Pacific and ethnic services with a focus on reducing Māori offending. As a policy manager, her main areas of work were methamphetamine and organised crime.
Andersen was also seconded into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet during former PM John Key’s administration to work on the Tackling Methamphetamine Action Plan.
