Power Simon: Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill — New Zealand Bill of Rights Act Compliance First Reading 
Power Simon: Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill — New Zealand Bill of Rights Act Compliance First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1420] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill be now read a first time 
. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill be referred to the Law and Order Committee for consideration. Parole is not a right for prisoners; it is a privilege—a privilege that must be earned. Any decision to grant parole to an offender should put the public’s right to safety first. Parole should be granted only to prisoners who have demonstrated that their behaviour has genuinely changed. 
Both the National Party and the ACT Party went into the election with policies that sought to restrict parole eligibility for serious repeat violent offenders. Under National’s policy those who committed a violent offence that earned them a prison sentence of 5 years or more regardless of whether they served the full term would not be eligible for parole if they committed a subsequent violent offence that received a sentence of 5 years or more. In the case of murderers with a prior record of serious violent offending this would mean that they would serve a life sentence without parole. In addition National wanted to give the courts the option of sentencing the worst murderers to life without the possibility of parole. I will leave ACT members to expand on their original “three strikes” policy but it will be obvious to those who read this bill that it accommodates the parole policies of both parties so as to fulfil the confidence and supply agreement. 
The bill deals with two types of offenders: the worst repeat violent and sexual offenders and the worst murderers. I will talk about these two types of offenders separately. The bill deals with the worst repeat violent and sexual offenders—those who are sentenced to 5 years or more in prison—in three stages. On sentencing for the first serious violent offence the court will warn the offender that if he or she commits a further offence of that type and magnitude he or she will automatically be ineligible for parole. If the offender is sentenced to 5 years or more for a second violent offence the court must make a non-parole order requiring this sentence to be served in full. The offender will receive a final warning that the consequences of further offending of this type may be even more severe. 
On the third occasion—the ACT policy in this case—if the offender is before the court for serious violent or sex offending and the court thinks that a sentence of at least 5 years is warranted again the offender will automatically receive a life sentence with a 25-year minimum non-parole period. In exceptional circumstances a 25-year minimum term may be inappropriate. The bill provides that where a non-parole order would be manifestly unjust the offender would still receive life imprisonment but the court would be able to specify a lesser term. If an offender with a first or final warning is sentenced to life for murder the offender will be ordered to serve the sentence in full unless this would be manifestly unjust. The “manifestly unjust” exception is intended to deal with exceptional cases where life without parole would be unjustifiably harsh. 
In keeping with National’s election policy the bill also introduces a new category of sentence aimed at the worst case of murder. For these cases the bill will enable the court to impose a life sentence without parole regardless of whether the offender has offended previously. In other words the court may decide that no minimum term would be sufficient to mark the seriousness of that offence. Of course every murder is abhorrent and each is a unique personal tragedy for the people who are directly affected. But the sad reality is that some murders are particularly heinous and demand the most severe response. This bill does not attempt to identify the specific factors that make a particular offence among the worst cases of murder. They will tend to have one or more of the aggravating factors listed in the Sentencing Act and what sets them apart will probably be a matter of degree rather than of kind. 
On the other hand the bill does not exclude prisoners subject to non-parole orders from applying for compassionate release. Under the existing law compassionate release is available for murderers and preventive detainees and it would be anomalous to explicitly exclude those subject to non-parole orders. Compassionate release is a very limited provision. In the past 4 years there have been a total of 11 applications—10 of which were approved—and all the applicants were seriously ill and unlikely to recover. 
This bill is the final component of the law and order legislative package that the Government pledged to introduce in its first 100 days in office. These measures are intended to enhance the integrity of the parole system and to protect the public from the worst repeat offenders. These offenders have shown contempt for the safety of others by committing serious acts of violence being released and then offending again. Under this legislation the public and victims will be spared uncertainty about when or whether these violent offenders will be released on parole—they will not be. Victims and their families will also be spared the repeat parole hearings that must be held for offenders serving life sentences and preventive detention after they have served a minimum term. 
I will pause here to thank directly those Ministry of Justice officials who worked over the summer break and who have worked long long hours to achieve the many bills that this new Government has brought to the House. Their professionalism and their willingness to engage on a range of issues have been second to none. I know it is not normally done but I thank them during this first reading debate for all their work. 
I make no apology in the case of this bill for putting the interests of the community ahead of the interests of violent offenders who have not taken the opportunity to change their ways. I commend this bill to the House.