7. Question No. 7—JusticeJAMES MEAGER (National—Rangitata) to the Minister of JusticeQuestion No. 7—Justice7. JAMES MEAGER (National—Rangitata) to the Minister of Justice: What recent statistics has he seen on victims of crime?Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (Minister of Justice): Based on the latest Police data over the past five years violent crime has increased by 33 percent ram raids by 290 percent robberies by 62 percent and the number of victims of retail crime has increased 110 percent. New Zealanders deserve better. That's why the Government is committed to restoring real consequences for crime. We've replaced the previous Government's goal to reduce the prison population by 30 percent irrespective of what the level of crime is in the community with clear and measurable targets to reduce—Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Point of order Mr Speaker. The statement that the Minister has just made in his answer is factually incorrect. He has no ministerial responsibility for the previous Government's targets. But if he is going to refer to them then he needs to refer to them accurately.Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: Speaking to the point of order Mr Speaker. SPEAKER: Speaking to the point of order the Hon Paul Goldsmith.Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: It was very clear that it was a—SPEAKER: Just wait—just calm. The Hon Paul Goldsmith.Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: Well I reject his assertion and his point of order. It was clearly stated as a goal of the previous Government to reduce—SPEAKER: That's good. Well I'm not adjudicating an argument between the two of you. If there's factually incorrect material being presented to the House there will be a remedy for those to take it up. So we'll take—Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: Can I finish my answer.SPEAKER: Maybe you should start again and make it brief because I was sort of losing it a bit.Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: Well I'd hate for the—the only point I wanted to add is it's also why we're progressing legislation to give the police additional tools to tackle gangs.James Meager: What other statistics on victims of crime has he seen?Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: On Monday the Ministry of Justice released their latest five-year analysis of the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey. This analysis identified victims of crime who are deemed to be highly victimised experiencing four or more cases of crime in the past 12 months. It identified that of the 4 percent of New Zealanders who are highly victimised Māori are disproportionately represented comprising 30 percent of that group. This is twice the rate of the rest of the population. That's why Māori are more likely to benefit from the measures of our Government to reduce crime.James Meager: What are the key insights from that five-year analysis of the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey?Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: The analysis shows that a small group of New Zealanders are experiencing the most crime: 137000 people are considered to be highly victimised every year. You're even more likely to be highly victimised if somebody is young a woman and Māori. That is why we're focusing on reducing the number of victims of crime to improve the safety of all New Zealanders. The restoration of the three strikes regime will keep our worst repeat offenders off the streets for longer. Our decision to offer rehabilitation services to many prisoners on remand will help reduce reoffending.James Meager: And what other actions is the Government taking to reduce the number of victims of crime?Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: Well first we're restoring real consequences for crime. We've already introduced legislation to give police extra tools to deal with gangs we've taken the first steps to ensure that prisoners on remand can get rehabilitation programmes and we're progressing well with strengthening the sentencing regime in New Zealand. Serious repeat youth offenders will face tougher consequences through the young serious offender category and military academies. Ministers Mitchell McKee Chhour and others are working hard in their respective portfolios and there is plenty more yet to come.