Penk ChrisCHRIS PENK (National—Helensville): Thank you Mr Speaker. Well 2019 cannot be the year of delivery because we're already in the start of December. At the very best it could be the month of delivery but they're going to need to get on with it—the Government. They're going to need to put themselves into urgency to achieve that.In the courts portfolio the biggest single item in terms of a broken promise or a missed opportunity or a failure to deliver comes in the realm of alcohol and other drug treatment courts. We've had more than two years of this Government. We've got less than one year left of this Government but the most significant time frame actually in relation to the alcohol and other drug treatment courts is June 2020 because that's the date that the funding for this pilot runs out.A bit of background: the court was established under the last Government was universally popular within the sector as far as we can tell and enjoys broad political support. Certainly positive noises have been made from colleagues on both sides of the House. That much is a very good thing but we've yet to see that translate into support for the courts in any tangible way beyond the end of the pilot in June of next year. So actually given the great Kiwi shutdown that's about to occur we'll lose a month. So between now and June 2020 when the current funding runs out we're really on a six-month period for that to happen.We keep hearing that at some point it'll come: the announcement that there will be some certainty for a sector that desperately needs it—both those accessing the services and those providing them. It's coming" they say "It's coming". Well it's December of 2019. Christmas is coming too but we don't yet know if we're ever going to get the certainty that the sector needs because we're running out of runway so to speak ahead of June of next year.Just to take a step back and understand the value of the alcohol and other drug treatment courts they were set up as I say under the last National Government. I acknowledge not only those involved in the political realm but in doing so particularly those in the sector. Judge Tremewan for example based in Waitākere and others on the judicial side of things—the lawyers the police the service providers and the young people and actually sometimes older New Zealanders too involved in the programme—have been doing wonderful things to turn around lives that have been troubled—yes with a brush with the law; that's why they're in the court system in the first place—but the acknowledgement is that the underlying cause or a major factor in the offending was addiction to some sort of illicit substance.So what happens is that we have an opportunity through the courts through a particular sentencing mechanism for the help to be provided. It's rehabilitation it's very holistic but it does tackle or address—I'll use a slightly less confrontational metaphor—the underlying issues that relate to that substance abuse. Stepping back further than that even—sometimes aspects of a person's life that might have somewhat gone off the rails and caused them to be in a difficult place such that they are offending in the first place.So these are very worthwhile endeavours. These are very worthwhile objects and aims. They've been doing really wonderful things. I myself have had the opportunity to view that sitting in the courtroom and seeing the way that the judges and the other key players involved expertly handle these people coming before them—and they are people and they're addressed as such and they're regarded very much in that way. I've attended the graduation along with the family and whānau and friends and wider circle of these people who have come out the other side of these programmes. They are demanding programmes. They're not an easy ride. They're not some sort of short cut; some sort of a "get out of jail free" card—pardon the pun. But they do actually allow—they are a "get out of jail free card" I suppose but in a way that actually is very constructive and doesn't undermine any of the principles of our justice system because it is helping to keep New Zealanders safe to have fewer people going out there causing mischief and also causing mischief to themselves and those nearest and dearest.So why then are we in December of the year before the programme runs out essentially—and we're hearing in the annual review at the Justice Committee when officials come in there and they give very professional answers; they're giving answers in line with their mandate and is allowed by Government policy but they're making noises as though to say the Government will soon be in a position to announce the results of the evaluation an evaluation that's been held for months now since July. We haven't had a copy. We've had it requested but we're certain that it will show good things have been done. And yes it is costly. Yes this kind of thing is going to be a drain on Government resources but it is worthwhile and I urge the Government to get on and at least deliver something in this space before the year is out."