Kerre Woodham: What do police do now?

The other big news story from last night was the result of the arbitration between the New Zealand Police and the Police Association. This is what happens when you go to arbitration, there's a winner and there's a loser. And in this case, the Police Association has lost in final offer arbitration, with the government's proposal to increase police pay being chosen.

Kerre Woodham: The Police are right to be brassed off

New Zealand police officers have overwhelmingly rejected the government's latest pay offer and have given the government one last chance to lift its game. The latest offer was put to the vote on April the 8th by the New Zealand Police Association. More than 75% voted against the offer. That is overwhelming. President Chris Cahill said the outcome sends a clear message to the government that the offer falls well short of addressing officers' concerns and very real needs. Police Minister Mark Mitchell was on with Mike Hosking this morning and says the rejection is an incredibly disappointing outcome.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: We all know how this police pay negotiation is going to play out

I think we all know how this police pay negotiation is going to play out, don't we? It's pretty obvious. 

We don’t know how long it’s gonna take, but we know how it’s going to end. The Government will, in the end, have to offer the police a decent pay increase.

And the reason they will do that is because anything short of that is just stupid. Politically stupid and realistically stupid.