Prasad Rajen: Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
Prasad Rajen: Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
[Volume:675;Page:21394] 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD (Labour) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take a final call on the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) which as the Minister has said is important legislation. I hope he is satisfied that the Opposition has treated it as such and that at every stage including the select committee deliberation we ensured that the interests of children were at the forefront. 
This legislation does address some aspects of the history of child abuse in New Zealand. The abuse is awful and there is a level of public disquiet about it in particular about a number of recent cases and this is an attempt to address that. Citizens also feel a level of frustration about the inability of some parents to keep their children and the vulnerable people in their care safe. It is important for those reasons. Expectations of parents have been codified particularly with respect to children and vulnerable adults. It is a good response to that; it is also a response to public expectations that these matters will be addressed and we have supported that. 
The bill makes it a legal duty for caregivers to keep their children safe and that is no bad thing. Those who do not do so commit a criminal offence and the penalties for that offence are quite severe; 10 years of imprisonment is a severe punishment. So at least it will be in the minds of parents and that is to be supported. Parents and caregivers now have a duty to provide a level of care to provide the necessaries and to take steps to protect those whom they are caring for from injury and harm. 
The thought does go through our minds that in the way the bill has addressed the problem there is an assumption that this was the problem—that there was a lack of willingness of parents and caregivers to provide for the safety of people in their care. That I believe is debatable. Why people do this is actually a much bigger question; certainly the bill does not address it. Those closely connected with taking care of children and vulnerable adults will now have to take reasonable steps to protect the victim. No reasonable person will find any of these provisions troublesome especially if they are focused only on holding those who abuse accountable to be appropriately punished. That was the view. 
The other point I will make is that it would be a mistake to believe that these provisions will actually solve the problem we have before us or eliminate the problem of abuse and neglect of children and vulnerable adults. I do not think on its own it will do that although it goes some way. The Children’s Commissioner in this case made perhaps the most valuable point: if these provisions are to work they must be complemented with an investment in preventive and other responsive services for those children and families who find themselves in vulnerable positions. Many of those who have been abused and neglected have had terrible lives and whether there are issues with mental health depression lack of confidence or self-respect poor education etc. those issues need to be addressed as well. That is the other part of this issue that has not been addressed here. 
We have reminded the Government throughout that those issues need to be taken into account especially where it comes to the effects of poverty. Many of these people—many of those who abuse in identified cases—are poor and those issues have not been addressed. Certainly over 2 weeks of questioning from this side of the House we have not been satisfied that the Government speakers—and indeed the Ministers—have answered that question fully for us. 
I just wanted to also say very briefly—and it is the last point I will make—that it was perhaps a mistake and an error to have the claim of right issue embedded in this particular bill. The way that has been done there are as Charles Chauvel was saying in the Committee stage unintended consequences. That is that those in cases in which a claim of right appropriately applies now do not have that defence before them. 
With those last words I am pleased to support this bill and now that it has come to this point we look forward to seeing its effectiveness. Thank you.