Petition to stop police mental health withdrawal delivered w/ Shaun Robinson: 14 May, 2025

Yesterday, the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, delivered a petition, which was signed by more than 16,000 citizens. The petition calls on the government to stop the Police’s hasty withdrawal from mental health callouts, until an alternative service is up and running.

Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, Shaun Robinson, has said that “The Police are a critical safety net for people in distress needing urgent access to mental health support”, and that the government removing the support of the police without an alternative in place is comparable to removing the engine of a car while it is running. Robinson believes that both situations are “dangerous, and likely to lead to an accident”.

To talk about the dangers of this development, Producer Max spoke with Shaun Robinson