9. Question No. 9—JusticeHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of JusticeQuestion No. 9—Justice9. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Justice: Does he acknowledge both violent crime and gang membership have increased since 2017; if so why has he chosen to prioritise repealing the three strikes legislation?Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Justice): No. The three-strikes legislation is not an effective response to gang membership or violent crime; rather it has resulted in unjustified and excessive prison sentences and made no impact on reducing strikeable offences. That is why we are repealing the three-strikes legislation. The number of violent crime charges has reduced since that member was in Government and the overall crime harm experience by victims from all violent crime has not changed significantly since 2013.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Regarding his claim that the three-strikes legislation is not effective did he see the Ministry of Justice's advice: There is no substantial international or New Zealand evidence on the effect of three strikes law on crime. The existing evidence is mixed and more robust research is needed to understand the true effects of these laws." and how on earth does he claim that those laws are not effective?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: If the member would like to continue reading that Ministry of Justice advice it also said that nothing in terms of the three-strikes legislation could be attributable to any changes in the strike offences.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he agree or disagree with Dairy and Business Owners Group spokesperson Sunny Kaushal when he says the offenders shopkeepers are dealing with in Auckland "have no fear of law they have no fear of being caught or the consequences whatsoever"?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I acknowledge the difficulties that some of those retailers are experiencing but I'd also point out to Mr Kaushal around the investment of a thousand fog cannons that the Government has invested in to make sure we can keep and deter crime being committed against them and also the investment in 1400 more police—$350 million investment to make sure there are more police on the beat.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Rather than heed the call to be tougher on crime from people such as Sunny Kaushal is it his message that we've actually been too tough on criminals and that's why the priority is to repeal the three-strikes legislation?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: You've got to walk the talk and the previous Government did not walk the talk in terms of its support for police. This Government invested $350 million more; 1400 more police on the beat; 360 police targeted on issues in Auckland central; 700 more police officers on organised crime. On this side of the House we back up our talk; on that side of the House they cut police numbers.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he give any credence to the views of a submitter on the Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Bill Nick Tuitasi who said that the three-strikes people have "committed up to 70 offences. The law was designed to take them out of circulation to reduce the number of victims to give victims a break because their victims are still scared to go out at night" and if so why is repealing this bill such a priority for him?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: When we change the three-strikes legislation the judiciary will still have the ability and the sentences available to them to pass down an appropriate sentence. I reiterate that the promises that the previous Government made in terms of decreasing victimisation and the reduction in the number of strikeable offences did not become reality.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Point of order Mr Speaker. I just noticed that people interrupted on my previous question. I was just asking whether you'd considered giving me an extra supplementary.SPEAKER: I did consider it.David Seymour: Does it help persuade the Minister that three strikes is a policy of great merit that the National Party which bitterly resisted its introduction at the time has now become a strong supporter of it and might the Minister change his mind too?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I'll let those parties sort that out for themselves."