Graham Kennedy: General Debate 
Graham Kennedy: General Debate 
[Volume:655;Page:5024] 
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM (Green) 
: 
 Last week this country was treated to a rare moment of autochthonous wisdom. Responding to an invitation from the New Zealand Law Society the Chief Justice allowed herself some personal reflection on the criminal justice system that has developed in New Zealand over recent decades. Notwithstanding the surprisingly intemperate response of the normally balanced Minister of Justice and the characteristically unbalanced response of the erstwhile Association of Consumers and Taxpayers this country has reacted rather well to the speech made by the Chief Justice. Indeed so it should for the speech might conceivably mark a turning point in the national debate on crime and justice in this country. 
The Chief Justice’s analysis rests on facts we have come to know painfully well. New Zealand’s incarceration rate is disproportionately high. The racial skew against Maori reveals a socio-economic bias that rests on the dominance of one culture in our society. The prison rate continues to increase. In short we have a series of interrelated problems. Her thoughtful comments were clearly designed to generate some soul-searching that might enable us to turn things round. They did not deserve the spasm of repudiation that followed from the Government. 
Let us consider what the Chief Justice has invited us to reflect upon. First she notes the significant impact of introducing the victim’s voice into the sentencing process which can risk turning cool justice into hot vengeance. Victims she says must be relevant to the process but how far should we go before basic values of justice are undermined? Direct assistance to victims may be of greater help than a sense of ownership of the criminal justice process. 
Secondly the requirements of sentencing demand a balance between the safety of the community and the rehabilitation prospects of the offender. There is a positive not a negative correlation between these two considerations. The problem with incarceration is that the offender usually re-enters society so if prison damages the offender then he or she may well be more dangerous coming out than going in. Our recidivism rate is an alarming 52 percent yet research shows that those with community-based sentences experience better rehabilitation than those imprisoned. 
Even a few decades ago the Chief Justice recalls sentencing policy was largely left to the judiciary. Today there is a stronger prescriptive direction from the legislature with minimum sentences and non-parole periods. That is not to suggest that there is no place for prison in the criminal justice system rather that various reforms and initiatives in the system must be tried. We need she says to keep trying to see what works. 
To that end the Chief Justice advanced five areas for consideration. The first was greater community education. It must be recognised that prisons do not reduce crime and that the causes of crime have to be directly addressed in order to achieve that shared goal. Secondly there should perhaps be more positive support intervention strategies at crucial stages for those most at risk. Thirdly a return to more activist probation care is perhaps in order. Fourthly there should be more sensitive treatment of drug and substance abuse within our prisons. Finally there should perhaps be a managed reduction of the bloated prison population of this country consistent with the safety of the community. It was this last thought that set the hounds baying. Certainly the idea runs counter to the political blood-lust that has surged through the nation’s public veins in recent years. That is all the more reason then for an antidote a dose of reason to temper the adrenaline. 
David Garrett 
: Anyone in your family been attacked Kennedy? 
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM 
: Yes. 
It would dishonour this seminal speech made by the Chief Justice and risk nullifying its purpose if I were to turn it into a political item. Suffice it to say that the Green Party welcomes Dame Sian Elias’ reflections and endorses her right to advance such views in an annual lecture organised by the Law Society. We find much in common with our own criminal justice policy. But there is scope for a reasoned debate on all these issues. We call upon the Government to respond to the address made by the Chief Justice in the same constructive and thoughtful spirit in which it was advanced. 
I seek leave to table the speech given by the Chief Justice at the 2009 annual Shirley Smith Address in Wellington on Thursday 9 July. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.