Andersen GinnyVIRGINIA ANDERSEN (Labour): Thank you Madam Chair. It's a pleasure to stand and speak regarding the appropriations and Estimates debate for the justice sector. The Justice Committee heard from the Minister of Justice that harsher sentencing has not reduced the rate of criminal offending over the past 10 to 15 years. We also heard on the Justice Committee that reoffending among youth and offending involving violent crime have also increased over that period of time. The Minister of Justice himself stated that he saw this as a failure of the justice system.In this I'd like to directly speak to the point that was raised by the previous speaker Mark Mitchell that there is a clear point of difference that has emerged between this Government and the previous National Government. That point of difference is that this Government is focused on fixing the systemic issues within our justice system—those systemic issues that mean generation after generation of New Zealanders are being further exposed to being victims or offenders as a result of the very system which they are going through. I think that is the response to the member that has just spoken that this is a Government that is focused on turning that around and making a real change not scoring quick political points.This Government wants a safe and effective justice system and that was heard quite clearly through the Estimates process. Yes it is important that those who offend are held to account—there will not be a compromise of public safety as incorrectly inferred previously—but also something different something on top of that is the ability to rehabilitate people to reintegrate people and to provide support to victims.In our justice system we have 47 percent of people going through who have addiction issues and we have 37 percent with mental health issues. Previously those things have simply not been addressed and those people have cycled through the system time and time again causing damage to their lives and to their families' lives and wasting money that should be focused on rehabilitating and providing support where it's needed. Again I say: that is the point of difference and that is the fundamental plan that will be changing the way this justice system takes shape in the future. We want to see intergenerational change and to see that our children who grow up in New Zealand have all the opportunities of taking full advantage of what New Zealand offers. We should not have a system that continues to make people more likely to be offenders or victims by processing through it.In particular we also heard through Vote Police—and I'd like to touch on that briefly—that there was much discussion around the 1800 police officers that has the main target of delivering under this Government. In particular there was discussion around the breakdown of that 1800. So there are 1100 sworn front-line officers; there are 700 authorised officers and 485 non-sworn and I'd just like to quickly break that down.So authorised officers—that 700—particularly address the area of fighting organised crime and I think that that's a point that's been missed by those members opposite. In the areas of forensic accountants who are tracing where money has come from during fraud and high-level white-collar crime and also looking in the area of internet crime where you need expertise in those areas—that is the future and that is where this Government is focused on investing money not just by promising window dressing.The 485 non-sworn—those are the people that back up the front line. Those are the people that do the work that enable police officers to get back in their cars back on the streets and get out doing the jobs that they need to be doing—not sitting back in front of a computer not filling out forms not doing work back in the office. By having more support in the back rooms that enables police officers to work far more effectively and be better supported than they have been. Under the previous Government we saw a cap on non-sworn and that saw front-line officers doing back-duty work and that's a waste of money and a waste of our skills.We are a Government focused on changing the system and delivering the changes that people need to be stronger and to live healthier lives. That is something that the members opposite are yet to realise. Thank you Madam Chair.