Collins Judith: Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill — Third Reading 
Collins Judith: Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:663;Page:11226] 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 I move  
That the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill be now read a third time 
. The purpose of this bill is to deny parole to repeat serious violent offenders and to offenders who are guilty of committing the worst murders and to impose maximum terms of imprisonment on persistent repeat offenders who continue to commit serious violent offences. 
This bill has changed significantly since its introduction and its referral to the Law and Order Committee. These changes will increase its effectiveness and its contribution to public safety. The bill creates a three-stage regime that will imprison the worst repeat violent and sexual offenders and the worst murderers for longer periods with increasing sentences and reduced access to parole if they continue to commit serious violent offences. The changes have increased the certainty of the punishment that offenders will receive mainly through offenders now qualifying for the regime following conviction rather than following a sentence of 5 or more years’ imprisonment. 
I take this opportunity to again acknowledge the pivotal role played by the ACT Party in the passage of this legislation and especially David Garrett. I thank the Law and Order Committee and its chair Sandra Goudie for guiding this bill through the select committee process. I also particularly thank the New Zealand Police and the Department of Corrections for their tireless efforts. 
For the benefit of the House I will recap the main elements of the regime. When convicted of a serious violent offence for the first time an offender will be sentenced as normal but will be very clearly warned that he or she will now be subject to the three-stage regime and warned what will happen if he or she is convicted of a further serious violent offence. If the offender is convicted of a second serious violent offence the implications are more serious. He or she will be sentenced as normal but any jail sentence will be served in full without parole. The offender will be warned again both verbally and in writing of the consequences of a third conviction for a serious violent offence. If the offender fails to heed the previous warnings and is convicted of a third serious violent offence he or she will be sentenced to the maximum penalty for that offence to be served without parole. The exception to this regime is for conviction for manslaughter for which an offender will be required to serve a life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of at least 20 years. 
The bill has specific provisions for those convicted of murder. Those convicted of murder at either stage two or stage three of the regime will be required to serve a life sentence without parole. The bill also makes special provision for offenders convicted of the worst murders. These offenders can be sentenced to life without parole even if they did not have a record of previous violent offending. However the bill provides for judicial discretion in those very rare cases where the circumstances of the offender and of the offence would be such that to serve a maximum sentence without parole at stage three or a life sentence for murder at stage two or three would be manifestly unjust. 
By means of this bill this Government is sending a strong message that we are serious when we say that parole is a privilege not a right. Parole is a privilege that will not be available to those who fail to take heed of warnings and continue to commit serious violent offences. This bill ensures that the rights of victims and their families are put before the rights of offenders who choose to continue to offend in this way. 
Once again I thank all those members of the public who submitted on the bill 94 percent of whom supported it. These people welcomed this new regime to address violent crime and to spare victims the stress associated with the current system which many view as favouring the offender rather than the victim. 
I turn now to the amendments proposed by Labour members during the Committee stage of this bill. Those amendments sought to weaken the impact of the regime on repeat serious violent offenders by supposedly reducing what they describe as the potential for disproportionate sentencing and unjust outcomes. These amendments did not receive the majority support of the Committee. The Opposition fails to understand that this bill deliberately puts in place an escalating regime of penalties for which I make no apology. An offender who is being sentenced at stage three has committed a third serious violent offence and has received two previous warnings about the consequences of reoffending in this way. It is also highly relevant that the regime includes only offences committed by people over the age of 18. The severity of the sentence reflects the repeat nature of the serious violent offending and the refusal of the adult offender to respect the rights of law-abiding citizens. The community expects and rightly deserves to be protected from those serious violent offenders for a lengthy period. 
The Opposition also tried to discredit the legislation by citing some of the more controversial scenarios that have arisen from the Californian “three strikes” legislation such as offenders whose juvenile offending record is taken into account and are given sentences of more than 25 years for shoplifting. I restate the fact that this regime will not apply to offences committed by those aged under 18 and will apply only to a specific range of 40 serious violent offences all of which are punishable by a maximum penalty of 7 years’ imprisonment or more. Some members of the Opposition chose to overlook these two key differences. 
Another issue that has been raised is the importance of the appropriate charges being laid by police. The Government is confident that the police have sufficient checks and safeguards in place to ensure that the appropriate charges are laid particularly at the third stage of the regime. At stage three police will be referring all charges that qualify for the mandatory maximum penalty to the Crown solicitor for review either pre-charge or by second appearance. 
I also take this opportunity to reassure the public that this Government is committed to helping those offenders who genuinely want to turn their lives round. Some offenders are simply bad and the best thing we can do is make sure that they stay locked up. But for others turning to crime is often the result of being poorly equipped to live law-abiding lives. Drug and alcohol problems and a lack of basic skills are a big impediment to offenders who want to make a change for the better. This Government made a commitment to increasing the number of prisoners gaining skills and work experiences by at least 1000 to doubling the number of prisoners receiving alcohol and drug treatment to 1000 and to expanding prisoner literacy and numeracy programmes. We are well on the way to achieving these targets in just 18 months. Over the past year 23000 hours of literacy and numeracy tuition have been provided to prisoners. This is an increase of 10000 hours over the same period in the previous year. We now have 4428 prisoners employed in work activities and this represents substantial growth towards the target of 1000 extra prisoners in employment. International studies have shown that participation in employment can reduce the risk of reoffending by between one-third and one-half. 
We are also providing more alcohol and drug treatment to prisoners. A new drug treatment station is in operation at Otago Corrections Facility and two more units are being built—one at Auckland prison and the other at Whanganui. The more prisoners we have who are learning to live productive law-abiding lives the less crime we will have in the community. Less crime in the community means fewer victims of crime and everyone should agree with that. 
In conclusion this Government is very pleased to fulfil our election promise to deny parole to and impose maximum terms of imprisonment on the very worst repeat violent offenders. This bill sends a clear message to those offenders who think it is OK to use violence to get what they want that their behaviour will no longer be tolerated. If they continue to commit serious violent crime despite being warned of the consequences they can look forward to being locked up for a long time. This Government is proud to put the interests of victims their families and the wider community ahead of serious violent criminals. I commend this bill to the House.