Mark Ron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Mark Ron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:617;Page:13227] 
8.  
RON MARK (NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Corrections 
: Is he satisfied with the outcome of New Zealand Parole Board decisions? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 Generally yes. 
Ron Mark 
: How can the Minister be satisfied with the Parole Board’s decision to grant back-end home detention to Gregory Hunt a violent offender convicted of assaulting two taxi drivers one of whom still has fragments of a four-pronged fork embedded in his skull after being repeatedly stabbed by Mr Hunt and what sort of a message is that Parole Board outcome sending to the community? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: The answer to the primary question of course was generally yes. But as the member knows the Parole Board is a statutory independent body which has existed in some form or another for many many years. It considers many thousands of applications for parole and home detention each year that cause very little or no public comment. However there are times when the public finds it difficult to understand the reasons for the decisions and this is one of those times. I can only presume that the Parole Board based its decision about Mr Hunt on information that neither that member nor I am privy to. I expect the board to be accountable for its decisions. 
Martin Gallagher 
: What has the Minister done to ensure that the New Zealand Parole Board’s actions reflect the intent of the sentencing and parole legislation? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: At the New Zealand Parole Board conference in March I stressed the importance of the paramount objective of public safety when considering applications under the Parole Act and emphasised the need for accountability and transparency of decisions. The Government has been very clear about its expectations in this regard. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: What is wrong with the system when a judge says that this man is too dangerous for bail but according to Government policy he is not too dangerous for home detention? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Government policy is quite clear that the safety of the public is paramount and is the major thing the Parole Board has to decide. It is an independent body. 
Marc Alexander 
: Does the Minister stand by his statement at this year’s Parole Board conference that for the sake of accountability the board needs to be more transparent in its decisions; if so is not true accountability available only if Parole Board decisions can be appealed by the victims and not only by the offenders? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Yes and no. 
Ron Mark 
: Does the Minister believe that a person who repeatedly stabbed a taxi driver in the head shoulder back hand and arm—a man who had to be restrained by no fewer than eight members of the public before police arrived at the scene of the crime—fits the description of a person of zero or low risk to public safety; if not how can he have confidence in a Parole Board that is supposed to have public safety as its paramount concern when making decisions to allow violent offenders back into the community but still chooses to do so? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: I can only assume that the Parole Board had evidence or information available to it that the member and I are not privy to and that is why it made that decision. 
Marc Alexander 
: Is the Minister satisfied with the outcome of Parole Board decisions when a quarter of those on home detention as at 1 April were violent offenders convicted of crimes such as sexual assault with a minor wounding with intent and grievous bodily harm and how does this square with its stated aim to ensure that those people no longer present a danger to the public? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: As I said at the start generally yes. I can tell the member that the recidivism rate for those released on home detention at the back end of their sentence is much better than for those who serve the end of their time and are released straight into the community. 
Ron Mark 
: Does the Minister recall this statement by his predecessor as Minister of Corrections Matt Robson: “Let me make it clear that replacing prison terms for violent offenders with home detention is not on the agenda of this Alliance-Labour Government.” and what was the reason for this policy now becoming part of the agenda during the Progressive Coalition - Labour - United Future Government? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: No and he should take it up with the former Minister.