SpeechJusticeHon KIRITAPU ALLAN (Minister of Justice): Mr Chair thank you. This year the Labour Government has underpinned its commitment to building a robust and fair justice system accessible to all. To achieve long-term reform of the justice system we need coordinated change consistent with New Zealand values and aspirations across the criminal justice system and connected to the social sector. This will involve improving the justice system's response to victims and others who have been harmed forming new and stronger partnerships with community and Māori improving our current services across the justice sector and providing a strategic pathway for future investment in the system. Justice sector agencies are working together to ensure there is an agreement about the outcomes that are required for an improved justice system. Whilst further work is required to define success we know it will include reduction in offending and reoffending through both prevention and rehabilitation means; victims receiving cohesive and responsive support; early intervention for people at risk of offending or reoffending; and efficient and culturally appropriate justice processes to ensure people are not further harmed by their interactions with the justice system.This year for the first time justice sector agencies came together to take a multi-year view of priorities across the sector taking their already solid collaborative approach to another level. Budget 2022 showed the benefits of this cluster approach with a significant and potentially transformative investment in the justice system across a whole suite of initiatives. I'll briefly outline some of those now.The legal aid system has been under strain with settings largely unchanged since 2011 and the number of people eligible for legal aid decreasing. This year we responded in Budget 2022 which contained an investment of over $148.7 million across four years to strengthen the legal aid system and ensure continued access to justice for New Zealanders who cannot afford legal advice. In short the changes mean an additional 93000 more people will be eligible for legal aid from January 2023. Ministry officials will help monitor the effect the changes have once they have been implemented—this will include provider monitoring to see whether the remuneration increases are having an impact on the retention of legal aid lawyers and the volume of legal aid cases that they take. In addition the Ministry of Justice will also be starting engagement with the profession on provider coverage.COVID-19 has meant that the ministry the judiciary and the legal profession have worked together to ensure the courts adapted through each of the COVID-19 waves which has enabled more court events to proceed and more cases to be resolved. For example in the District Court during the first COVID-19 alert level 4 period in 2020 only 32 percent of normal court events were able to be completed; during the Delta alert level 4 period last year in August this increased to 40 percent; and during the Omicron red setting this year this increased to above 90 percent. I want to acknowledge the efforts of the courts and note that the impacts of these delays have very real-life consequences for every single one of those court participants.There is a considerable effort being invested into reducing court delays on a number of fronts. In addition the courts have responded to the pressures the courts have been under as a result of COVID-19 by funding over $76 million from recent Budgets to provide additional resources. Meanwhile collaboration as I've noted between the judiciary legal profession and court staff in terms of scheduling has ensued to assist with cases progressing without unnecessary delay.The Criminal Process Improvement Programme—or CPIP as it's described—is led by the Chief District Court Judge. It's a sector-wide effort to improve access to justice. This will be done by establishing best-practice in-court processes and reducing delay. Over time this will reduce the amount of time defendants spend on remand. The CPIP objectives are to reduce the average time days to disposal; reduce the number of events that do not proceed on any particular day; reduce the average number of events for a case from start to end; and reduce the number of days the accused spends in custody waiting for an outcome. CPIP received $11.1 million across the justice sector over four years in Budget 2022.In addition critical court and justice services received an investment of $59.5 million over four years through Budget 2022 to help retain a stable and resilient workforce to support the court and prevent delays. It will fund—[Time expired]