Tanczos Nandor: Prisoners' and Victims' Claims Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Tanczos Nandor: Prisoners' and Victims' Claims Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:626;Page:20928] 
NANDOR TANCZOS (Green) 
: 
 It was most interesting to hear Mr Jones make his speech. That member must have been asleep for the past few years if he thinks that this bill is being passed by Parliament in order to allow prisoners to claim compensation against the Department of Corrections. Perhaps the member did not realise that there is a case in the Court of Appeal this week about that. The case has already been through the High Court but maybe the member did not realise that that was already happening. This bill is actually about freezing any compensation granted to inmates and making it available to their victims. Then proving that he has totally lost his grip on reality Dail Jones suggested that the matter has something to do with cannabis. The member sees cannabis everywhere even in the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Bill. I think that it really is time the member retired. He had gone he has been resurrected and it is time for him to go again. 
Then Marc Alexander stood up and threw a tizzy because he had tried to throw his weight around and it had not worked. He is most upset. That is the real answer to Mr Ryall’s question. I will tell the Committee how this situation came about. United Future members had been supporting this bill until recently but they decided to withdraw support and throw their weight around. Their demands became more and more extreme. They started to make increasingly bizarre threats to the Government during the bill’s second reading. I do not know whether other members here remember that but none of us could quite figure out what those United Future members were on about. 
So in desperation the Government has turned to the Greens. Our opposition to this bill is on record. We have said that it may breach international conventions. Unlike some parties we do believe that New Zealand should honour its international agreements. We do believe that we as a country should keep our word. We do believe that international conventions are important and that the standing of New Zealand in the eyes of the international community is important and we do not agree that international conventions should not apply to us. That road leads to Guantanamo Bay; it is the view of the Bush administration on international conventions. The Green Party does not hold that view although United Future New Zealand First and the National Party may. 
We have agreed to support this bill for four very good reasons. The first is that the bill would have been made considerably worse if the Government had had to rely on accepting United Future amendments in order to pass it because United Future members have consistently demonstrated that they have very little ability to make rational amendments. Their position on this bill particularly is quite outside the bounds of what is acceptable in a country that gives any consideration to the rule of law. 
The second reason is that in return for Green support the Government has agreed to an independent prison inspectorate. The Justice and Electoral Committee supported that idea and members of this Parliament have supported it. It is something that the Greens have been consistent in campaigning for and finally we now have it locked down. This country will have an independent prison inspectorate as a result of the Green Party’s actions. The third reason is that there is a sunset clause on all measures in the bill except those concerning the suspension of limitations—because we do not believe that this bill is the best means of addressing that situation. We believe that it is right that the legislation should come to an end after a period of time—that is in 2007 as Supplementary Order Paper 374 states. 
The last reason is that the Government has agreed also to an inquiry into victims’ rights victims’ compensation and the role of victims in the criminal justice system. The Justice and Electoral Committee said that we should have such an inquiry but the committee is unable to make binding promises for the next term of Parliament. After the election any promises made by the select committee about an inquiry will disappear. The Greens have locked down a cast-iron guarantee that there will be an inquiry into victims’ rights victims’ compensation and the role of victims in the criminal justice system. The Green Party is very proud of that. We have done something about victims’ rights that United Future has not been able to do. For all their grand words posturing and claims to be standing up for victims’ rights those members have actually done nothing for victims’ rights. The only thing that they claim to have achieved for victims’ rights is the Victims’ Rights Act which was already due to come before this Parliament before Marc Alexander was even a member. So his impact has been irrelevant in that regard. The Greens are proud that we are to have an inquiry into the rights of victims and we are proud of the achievements we have managed to negotiate through our support for this bill.