Power Simon: Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Power Simon: Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1278] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee for consideration. 
In March last year National announced it would introduce a $50 levy on all those convicted of an offence which would be used to assist with expenses faced by victims of serious crime. The reaction was interesting. Members of the families of homicide victims came out into the media in support of that. A couple of weeks ago the offender levy was again endorsed by groups as diverse as the Sensible Sentencing Trust and those involved in Rethinking Crime and Punishment. However from the beginning Labour scoffed at the policy and misleadingly attempted deliberately or otherwise to portray the levy as a direct reparation to victims. The same Labour Party promised to “consult widely on an appropriate victims’ compensation scheme.” That was in 1994. Fourteen years later and in its third term in Government Labour asked the Law Commission to produce a discussion document on victims’ compensation. The previous Government was so committed to that policy that when I debated with the then Minister of Corrections Phil Goff on Radio New Zealand National during the election campaign he had no idea that the Law Commission had released its report 10 days earlier. 
This Government is not mucking around and we are committed to putting victims at the centre of the criminal justice system. We have not forgotten that in 1999 92 percent of voters agreed with the proposition of the citizens initiated referendum which among other things asked whether there should “be a reform of our justice system placing greater emphasis on the needs of the victims providing restitution and compensation for them”. We know from the Justice and Electoral Committee’s inquiry into victims’ rights that the victims of serious crime often face significant costs that are associated with the crimes committed against them and are not covered by accident compensation other State assistance or court-ordered reparation. I want to make it absolutely clear today that we can never legislate away the pain and suffering that the victims of serious crimes such as murder sexual violation grievous assault and other such offences face. We can however respond to the practical needs and emotional costs that fall on the victims of serious crime in particular. 
Imposing a levy on offenders to provide for a fund to assist victims is not an uncommon measure. In the United Kingdom the levy is set at a flat £15 and in Canada it is set at Can$50 for summary offences and Can$100 for indictable offences. 
This bill proposes to amend the Sentencing Act 2002 to provide that all offenders who have been convicted of an offence must pay a levy of $50. The levy is not a sentence and its imposition is in addition to any other penalty that the criminal courts may impose such as imprisonment community work a fine or reparation to be paid to any victim specifically. The courts are not to consider whether the levy will cause hardship as is the case when a sentence involving reparation is being contemplated nor is it to be taken into account when determining the amount of a fine. The collection of the levy will be prioritised: after the collection of reparation but before the collection of fines. To be absolutely clear no victim will forgo reparations so that an offender can pay the levy. It is estimated that of the 120000 eligible sentences in the first year in 20000 of those cases reparations will be ordered and in the remaining 100000 or 83 percent of eligible cases the levy will be collected first ahead of any court costs or other fines. 
The bill includes provisions that relate to enforcing the levy. To ensure the enforcement regime is as efficient as possible the proposal in the bill is to take advantage of the current enforcement regime that is in place for collecting outstanding fines and reparations. 
The offender levy which will apply only in the adult courts will be paid to the Secretary for Justice who will direct the money to a specific Crown bank account known as the victims’ services bank account. The bill requires the Secretary for Justice to approve any organisation as an approved agency for providing victims with services that are paid for from the victims’ services bank account. I can advise the House that officials are already working on identifying the gaps in services for victims that the offender levies could be directed towards. One that comes to mind is the need for victims to pay for travel to court and parole hearings which has been identified by Kevin McNeil the son of Lois Dear as a particular strain on victims. Because the fund will take time to build up we will begin by prioritising the victims of the most serious crimes such as the families of murder victims. The fund will be bolstered by savings made from abolishing the previous Government’s Sentencing Council and Criminal Justice Advisory Board. 
This bill will start a process that will fund the provision of additional services for victims of crime for many years to come a process that should have started many years ago. I commend the bill to the House.