Jones Dail: Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Bill — In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
Jones Dail: Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Bill — In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21010] 
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
: 
 New Zealand First opposes the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Bill which ultimately puts money in the hands of the scum of our society. The Labour Party is pushing this bill and United Future wanted to have nothing to do with it finally. But who came along to help the Labour Party? The Greens did. The Greens cannot wait to jump into bed with the Labour Party. 
Sitting suspended from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. 
DAIL JONES 
: As you have said Madam Chair we have before us the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Bill. This bill has come about because a group of hardened criminals who are in prison for some of the most vicious crimes against society have been able to exercise their common-law rights and other rights and to sue prison guards and the corrections service in particular. That was because the prison guards and the corrections service responded to the disgraceful behaviour of the prisoners while in prison and because a judge decided that the poor darling prisoners who had murdered beaten and raped and who had destroyed people’s lives were entitled to some recompense for having the lights on for too long for being locked up for too long and for being restrained when shouting out screaming and making everyone’s life a misery. The judicial system has decided that prisoners like those were entitled to up to $140000 by way of damages. 
New Zealand First says that the first people and the only people who should share in those damages are the victims of those disgraceful criminals who are really the scum of New Zealand society. New Zealand First says that any funds received by criminals as a result of a successful claim should be paid first to the victims of the criminals receiving the compensation and second the balance should be paid into a victims’ claims rehabilitation account. The difference between our view and that of the Government and the Greens—who have only recently decided to help the Government on this issue—is that the Government wants any balance to go to the criminals. New Zealand First does not want any balance to go to the criminals. New Zealand First wants that balance to go into a victims’ claims rehabilitation account and to be shared by victims generally to help them with the money outstanding to them. We were told in the Justice and Electoral Committee that victims are currently owed about $51 million in reparation by the criminals in New Zealand society. 
Of course there should be redress for prisoners and the Government should take appropriate action against prison officers and any other persons employed by the Department of Corrections who have created a situation in which prisoners are entitled to make a claim. Remedies such as dismissal from the Department of Corrections and prosecution should be utilised by the Government to ensure that any situations that would give rise to claims by criminals are not repeated. Even as we speak a case is taking place in the Court of Appeal of New Zealand just down the road about this matter. That judgment was given by a judge a short time ago so there is a judgment in effect that states that those criminals are entitled to that money. New Zealand First has therefore put forward an amendment stating that this Act of Parliament should come into effect from 1 January 2005. We say it should be retrospective and our amendment states: “and applies to all actions currently before the courts including any actions commenced before the 1 January 2005 which have not yet been concluded and further applies to any such actions which are currently the subject of an appeal before any court.” We want to make sure that any possible claim that is still current before the courts even by way of an appeal to the Court of Appeal is caught by legislation that makes sure that criminals do not get the money. 
But the Government disagrees with us. Labour and the Greens say that those vicious murderers those people who have beaten children to such an extent that their mothers cannot recognise them should be entitled to money. We say that this law will encourage criminals to misbehave in prison and make the lives of prison officers an absolute misery and will encourage more and more of those crimes and that misbehaviour in prisons. We are not dealing with people who having embezzled some money go to prison do their time and come out. This legislation is concerned with really vicious criminals and thugs and we in New Zealand First say that they should not get a brass razoo.