Bridges Simon: Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Bridges Simon: Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1291] 
SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga) 
: 
 It is a great pleasure to take a call and speak in favour of the Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill after Rahui Katene who gave a thought-provoking and thoughtful speech on the wider issues of justice in relation to victims and victimisation. It is also good to be on my feet because although Labour members might not like to hear it this Government clearly has a mandate to pass this law. It is something we talked about again and again on the campaign trail. It is certainly something I talked about and it is something the people of Tauranga were very very glad to hear about. 
This bill takes a very positive step towards greater rights for victims. It is a step towards putting victims at the centre of the justice system and that is entirely as it should be. This is something that is very dear to my heart. In my maiden speech I spoke about victims victimisation and the neglect of victims by our criminal justice system. This bill helps in two very real ways as well as in other ways. It helps victims to travel to and from court and it helps with additional counselling. Let me deal with those points one by one. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: What a big help with the trauma they have been through. That’s an insult. 
SIMON BRIDGES 
: I can hear the Labour members. For many of them who live in Wellington Central it is not far to the closest court; it is a nice walk down the road. There might be a bit of wind but they will be there very quickly. However in most parts of New Zealand it is a very long way to the courthouse for the victims. In Tauranga and its surrounding areas— 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: It is if you travel from Auckland to Tauranga. 
SIMON BRIDGES 
: I am surprised at Steve Chadwick whose husband I have a great deal of time for and with whom I have done jury trials. He well knows about the victims. 
The court in Tauranga services much of the Bay of Plenty. It services Whakatane which is an hour and a half away; Opotiki which is two and a quarter hours away; and Te Kaha which is nearly 3 hours away making it a round trip of 6 hours to get to and from court. Sadly for many victims coming to and from the jury trials and sentencing it is a 6-hour round trip. 
The victims of crime are disproportionately poor people—those whom the Labour Party says it stands for. Metiria Turei says it is Maori who will be paying. I say to her that the victims who will benefit from this bill will also be Maori. They will get the benefit of offenders paying this levy and that is a good step. 
Of course the poor do not come to Tauranga the night before the court date and stay at the Sebel. They do not come to Tauranga the night before and have a nice meal out; they come very very early in the morning to meet with the police or the prosecutor. Frankly they have more than enough to worry about. Coming to court is a traumatic enough experience for them and worrying about travelling costs is the last thing they should be doing. It is traumatic enough that they will be in court opposite the family members of the accused—of the criminal—and that they will be there in the same court as those who have intimidated them before and who will be intimidating them again. I know that Steve Chadwick knows about this. It is the kind of thing that can make a grown man cry. 
Those people have enough to worry about without having to worry about travelling and the costs of getting to and from court. Fifty dollars or $100 would make all the difference to those people. It is hard enough getting to court let alone having to worry about the economics of it. 
I agree with Labour members that this measure is banal and ordinary but it is practical. It is a practical step towards more rights for victims. It is funny because Labour started to do a reasonable job for victims. It passed the Victims’ Rights Act in 2002 and in doing that it allowed victims to read the victim impact statement in court and many a victim is empowered by that. I am surprised that Labour members cannot put politics aside and support this practical measure towards helping victims and doing something for the victims of crime. 
One has to wonder whether Labour is now the party of the criminal. It liberalised the bail laws. It made it easier for criminals to get bail. It liberalised the parole laws and made it easier— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I seek your advice about that comment Mr Assistant Speaker. I suggest that labelling a party “a party of criminals” is right out of order. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: The member is skirting a bit far into insinuation. I think it would be appropriate for him just to continue but to mind his language. 
SIMON BRIDGES 
: Measures passed by the Labour Government such as liberalising the bail laws did not help victims; they helped the criminal. Labour members do not like to hear it but Labour liberalised the parole and sentencing laws and here we have a bill that helps victims and puts them first in a small and modest way but Labour members cannot support it. Labour members put politics first in this debate. It is cheap point-scoring ahead of helping victims in Te Kaha Whakatane and places that Steve Chadwick knows about yet she cannot bring herself to speak wholeheartedly in favour of this bill which supports women children the disempowered the weak and the vulnerable—those who are the victims of crime. Getting $50 from offenders goes towards making a lot of money to help those who need help the most. 
I want to say something about the morality and value of this bill. It is good that offenders contribute to addressing the harm they helped cause to victims. Labour members do not believe in cause and effect. They think they can do whatever they like and it does not matter but in National we believe in consequences for what we do. With this bill offenders will be putting money forward to help those who have been collectively hurt by crime in this country. It is good and it is right that those who cause harm and are culpable should be held accountable. That is just desserts; that is accountability. Those are values that the National Party and the National Government are very much in favour of. 
The Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill is a good bill. It is a very positive step in a journey towards having greater victim rights in this country and putting victims at the centre of the criminal justice system which is as it should be. Labour seems to have forgotten about victims in all of this. It puts petty politics first. We certainly will not and I commend this bill to the House.