Goldsmith Paul; Salesa JennyHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National): Thank you Madam Speaker and it's my pleasure to speak on this bill and to acknowledge that we in the National Party will be supporting Ginny Andersen and the Crimes (Child Exploitation Offences) Amendment Bill which seeks to do—[Interruption] thank you Mr Shaw; nice to hear from you—some reasonable things to focus on what it is a worrying offence for many parents in particular and young people of grooming of young people. And as it was introduced by this member it included potential prison terms of between seven and I think 10 years originally for the more serious offence with the intention of causing harm". I suppose the point I want to make in the very short time I have before the House rises is the clashing dissonance that many people will have in their minds when they consider here is Parliament it's passing legislation to put people into prison for grooming young people through the internet and phones—not actually doing anything but grooming; preparing them to do something—with the news that we got today that a male who raped four young women ended up with nine months' home detention.So here we are in Parliament. We pass legislation. We're tough. We're saying "We're not going to stand for any of this nonsense. We're going to bring in these prison terms for people who are grooming doing stuff sending texts and emails to young women." And I agree. Society should send a powerful message that that is not appropriate and they should be sent to prison if caught for the things in this Act. But we've got to face the reality that a young man who raped was convicted of raping four girls doesn't go to prison at all and ends up with nine months' home detention. And so there's a clashing dissonance between what Parliament is trying to do to send a message.What is the justice system about? It's not just about looking after the needs of the perpetrators of crime; it's actually about denouncing the act whether it's grooming young people for potential crimes or raping people. It's denouncing the act it's about providing justice to victims and it's also about making clear that there are serious consequences for serious crimes. And we haven't got the balance right it seems to me at the moment.I agree with the High Court judge who pointed out that that case in that instance of the young man raping four girls and getting nine months' home detention was manifestly inadequate and yet it hasn't been changed—it hasn't been changed. So I think we've got some real issues as a country where Parliament passes laws with serious prison terms for serious crimes and we're not seeing them actually in reality. And here we are in Parliament passing another law or talking about another law identifying another crime and this one is grooming young children and indicating penalties. The member introduced it with very substantial penalties. It's now been wound back because actually they didn't tie up with existing penalties on the law code down to a period of three years of imprisonment. But I just wonder if anybody was actually ever caught under this would they serve three years? I doubt it very much. So that's something we need as a country to think about quite seriously so that our justice system does those things which I outlined. Not just look after the needs of the perpetrator of the crime but also denounce the act send a clear message that serious crime has serious consequences and provide justice to the victims.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Order! The debate is interrupted and is set down for resumption next sitting day. The House is suspended and I'll resume the Chair at 9 a.m. tomorrow for an extended sitting to consider the Government's orders of the day. Pō mārie.Debate interrupted.Sitting suspended from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. (Thursday)"