Rurawhe AdrianTHREE STRIKES LEGISLATION REPEAL BILLThird ReadingHon KIRITAPU ALLAN (Minister of Justice): I move that the Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Bill be now read a third time. SPEAKER: No you don't. Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: Why not? SPEAKER: You present a legislative statement first.Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: I present a legislative statement to the House—SPEAKER: On the Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Bill.Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: —on the Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Bill.SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: I move That the Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Bill be now read a third time.This bill delivers on the Government's manifesto committing to repeal the three-strikes law. The three-strikes law was introduced in 2010 and created a mandatory sentencing regime for 40 serious offences. In doing so it took away the discretionary power of judges to fully consider the context of the offending as well as the individual circumstances of the offender in front of them.The application of the three-strikes law has led to some extremely concerning sentencing outcomes. Since its introduction the High Court Court of Appeal and Supreme Court have all ruled that sentences imposed under the three-strikes regime have contravened the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. When we consider the distorting effect on sentence outcomes it is clear that we would need to see strong evidence of the effectiveness of this law to justify its continued existence. However there is little evidence that the three-strikes law has worked as intended: to deter or prevent any kind of serious crime.It's extremely important to note that this repeal does not mean serious and repeat offenders will not be held to account. All of the same measures that are required by the three-strikes regime will still be available to judges once the repeal takes effect. The courts have equivalent sentencing options available to protect victims and the wider public from people who commit serious offences from limitation on parole eligibility through to the possibility of life imprisonment without parole. In effect what the repeal does is return discretion back to the judiciary who are best placed to respond appropriately to serious and repeat offending on a case by case basis.I want to take this opportunity to reiterate that in approaching this repeal one of our main concerns was to minimise the effects on victims. At the time the law was introduced Labour highlighted how it failed to protect victims or address the causes of crime. In developing the bill we worked with the Chief Victims Adviser to ensure that any potential impacts were understood early and could be effectively managed. As a result we have developed the bill in a way that will not impact current victims of strike offenders as the bill does not provide for the ability to apply for resentencing or change the parole eligibility. I want to thank Dr Kim McGregor for her guidance in the course of this bill.The bill was introduced in November of last year. The select committee process invited robust discussions about the three-strikes regime. I want to acknowledge and thank Ginny Andersen for the way she chaired the Justice Committee through their deliberations and indeed to all members of the select committee for their deliberations and considerations. I'm grateful for the level of engagement that we received and I thank all of those who took time to make a submission on the bill.I want to be clear: this repeal is about acknowledging and taking accountability when legislation does not do what it was intended to do. It is about ensuring we have appropriate criminal justice tools to hold offenders accountable but in a way that is consistent with New Zealand's human rights expectations and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act standards.The drivers of crime are often complex and intergenerational. This highlights the need and the commitment of the Government to make a pragmatic and evidence-based approach to build an effective justice system. This will ensure that in the long term we prevent further crime and victimisation and provide better support to those involved in the justice system to break the cycle of offending. I commend this bill to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.