Katene Rahui: Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Katene Rahui: Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1289] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 The word “victim” has taken on tragic connotations this week with at least 180 people confirmed dead and a death toll predicted to rise to about 300 people from the ferocious wildfires in Victoria Australia. Over and above the suspected arson there have been reports of looters robbing from the dead—stealing precious memories from the families left behind. 
Victims come in many forms: they may have been offended against directly; their property may have been lost or damaged; or a family member may have died or may be unable to make decisions about his or her welfare. Victims may have been psychologically traumatised physically abused sexually violated or emotionally harmed. They may be financial fatalities having fallen prey to the actions of corporate crooks such as the nine directors of failed finance companies Bridgecorp and Nathans Finance. If we think of Bridgecorp for instance—which I try hard not to do—we are thinking of some 14300 victims owed a grand total of some $459 million including my small savings. 
The Maori Party believes that the country should invest in a restorative justice system where victims are empowered and where Government agencies work with whanau to support them on issues affecting them. We are mindful that there are particular concerns around the disproportionate overrepresentation of Maori in victims of crime. Maori victims experience almost twice as many victimisations as non-Maori. Even worse Maori women victims have the highest victimisation rates with an average number of 4.8 reported offences per victim. Maori women are overrepresented among victims of domestic violence and are more likely to experience repeat victimisation from a partner. Maori are 50 percent more likely to be victims of property offences like theft and twice as likely to fall prey to violent offences. Interestingly the high rates for Maori and Pacific peoples have been linked to other risk factors associated with victimisation; they are more likely to be young unemployed sole parents and to live in more socio-economically deprived areas. 
All those are part of the group we might loosely define as “victims”. The Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill responds to the moral imperative to support and respond to the needs of this group giving new meaning to the concept that crime never pays. All offenders convicted of a criminal offence must pay an offender levy of $50 at the point of sentencing. It is a levy in addition to any other fine imposed on the offender such as a prison sentence community service a fine or any reparation to be paid to the victim. In its most basic form the Maori Party supports the concept of what is essentially a crime tax. We support the contention that offenders should contribute in a tangible practical way towards addressing the harm that their offending has caused. 
Of course although the $50 fee is a start we are under no illusion that it is a straightforward solution to the complex range of problems that are associated with victimhood. The Maori Party wonders firstly whether all victims will be eligible and if they are not what the specific criteria will be to determine who can access the fund. We look forward to attending the select committee to hear the experience of providers and advocacy groups around whether all convicted offenders should be required to pay the levy or whether there should be exceptions and similarly whether all victims will be entitled to have access to the service. In particular we will be interested to learn whether all prisoners will have access to the fund and its services if they are victims of crime while incarcerated. This is a situation of especial relevance to the situation of many female inmates of whom an estimated 90 percent have been identified as survivors of sexual abuse. Researchers describe it as poly-victimisation in which offenders may well reveal a history of extensive sexual abuse. A Ministry of Health survey of New Zealand prisons found that more than a third of women inside had experienced post-traumatic stress disorder. So the question we would ask of the Minister is whether such offenders who are also victims will be able to claim support. 
Another set of concerns for the Maori Party is that this initiative may push open the door for privatisation and whether there are any long-term implications for the operations of the accident compensation scheme. There is also the more philosophical question around the value of financial reparation—the levy and the fine—in contrast with what we might broadly call the loss of enjoyment of life. Perhaps instead of compensation alone there could be work undertaken on alternative strategies to produce benefits for those who have offended and those who are offended against. I am thinking of something like Aroha Terry’s work with SL Group Ltd. SL Group has been developing a programme designed to provide healing techniques and solutions from the inside out. The programme Te Mana Wananga gives emphasis to the restoration of the mana of offenders victims and whanau through the promotion of key concepts—wairua tinana tipuna. I believe this is an area where far more emphasis could be given if we are to truly support more recognition of victims in the justice system. 
In the victims’ rights inquiry undertaken by the Justice and Electoral Committee one of the key concerns put forward was the need for improved support services for complainants and victims including information legal advice and counselling. A biggie from that inquiry was the need to improve access to restorative justice. Under the current system of justice a victim of crime is hardly acknowledged in the process. If anything the victim’s role is likened to that of a witness with victims feeling they have been sidelined in the whole process. My colleague Te Ururoa Flavell has been calling for a marae-based restorative justice system in the wake of the slaying of the young boy in Murupara. It would be a process by which everyone faces up eyeball to eyeball. Na te whakama matou i patu; it is about the group bearing the burden of the collective shame. I whakama matou mo nga mahi i mahia e tetahi o matou; we are ashamed of what one of us did. 
This bill and the associated offender levy are an important stage in empowering the victims of crime and at the same time forcing offenders to face up to what they have done and to make it right. The levy is however only one part of a much bigger issue about how to create a more humane and more restorative justice system. The current system of justice is failing Maori and indeed New Zealand. The Maori Party is determined that we must see much more change in the system as a whole if we are to achieve a system that truly promotes justice over injustice that demonstrates fairness instead of bias and in which all participants have due access to the law. Kia ora.