te Heuheu Georgina: Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Bill — In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
te Heuheu Georgina: Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Bill — In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:20957] 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (National) 
: 
 We are debating Part 2 which deals with the provisions for prisoners’ and victims’ claims. It is interesting that there are more provisions for—and I would say barriers to—victims getting hold of any compensation than there are for the crims. I want to repeat my comments from last night that this bill is a huge fraud that the Government is perpetrating on decent New Zealanders. 
Members will recall that this legislation came about because of some huge payouts made to some of our worst criminals. The public rightly got up in arms and said: “What about the victims?” and now we have a bill before us that deals with compensation paid to some of our worst criminals for supposed hurts they suffered while they were under the care of the Department of Corrections. It also contains provisions that allow victims if they are known or can be identified to claim some of that compensation before the money finally gets into the criminals’ hands. 
What is annoying is that this is typical liberal namby-pamby Labour-type legislation. This bill is an absolute affront to decent New Zealanders. In urgency we are making sure that criminals who are awarded compensation get the money they have been awarded. The Government has put some provisions in the bill supposedly for the victims which I will come to in a minute. Ordinary middle New Zealanders—the people who could have expected something from the Budget that we had just the week before last—now have to be a witness to legislation that will allow some of our worst criminals to partake of compensation paid to them for who knows what. The criminals go into the prison behaviour management regime. They can allege that they have been treated wrongly or that they have suffered some kind of mishap or stress and get awarded some compensation. The Government is obviously soft on law and order. We have known that for the last 6 years. It is absolutely soft. To top it all before the election it will make sure that criminals can keep their ill-gotten gains for whatever hurt they say they suffered while in the care of the Department of Corrections. 
As I said Part 2 sets out the provisions for the award of payments to prisoners. That money is to go in trust to be kept until victims come forward with their claim. But why would anyone do that? Why would a woman who had been raped by one of those vicious criminals given the provisions in this legislation put herself through the trauma of trying to claim some of the money that had been awarded to the offender? The provisions in Part 2 consist of barrier after barrier. It is a whole re-traumatisation for victims. Why would a woman who had been raped or seriously harmed by one of those vicious criminals put herself through that trauma? There is no guarantee that victims will get the compensation. They still have to show good reason why they ought to get some of it. It is absolutely outrageous. 
That is what this Government thinks of victims. It absolutely does not care about victims. Shame on it! If the women in the Labour caucus are sitting there thinking that they are doing victims a favour I say to them that many of the victims are female. They are subject to rape and all sorts of horrible heinous crimes. The women in the Labour caucus are sitting there and letting this bill go through.