Genter Julie Anne: Administration of Community Sentences and Orders Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Genter Julie Anne: Administration of Community Sentences and Orders Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 08 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:2052. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora e te Whare. As the Green Party spokesperson on justice I am very pleased to rise to follow my distinguished colleague David Clendon to speak on the first reading of the Administration of Community Sentences and Orders Bill. I am very pleased to say as Mr Clendon also noted in his first speech that the Green Party will be supporting this bill’s referral to a select committee.  
The amendments in this bill are largely minor policy changes that will ensure community sentences are adequately implemented. The Green Party places a high emphasis on the role of community sentences in achieving a fair and sustainable Aotearoa. Prisons really are a sign of failure in society—I believe even the Minister of Finance has said they are a moral and fiscal failure—and they are self-perpetuating. Prisons as they currently exist in this country are academies of hard crime. Non-violent offenders whenever possible should not be sent to prison where they will be further alienated from society will be exposed to violence and will network with other more hardened criminals. I would tautoko what my colleague Charles Chauvel and the Hon Phil Goff said earlier tonight. They very rightly pointed out that the Ministry of Justice review of home detention has conclusively shown that community sentences are significantly more effective at reducing recidivism than prison sentences and at a fraction of the cost. Justice is more than just locking up criminals and doing away with their rights. It is about making our communities safer and rehabilitating offenders.  
I noticed that Mr McKelvie and Mr Ross noted that it is very rare that the Green Party can be enthusiastic about a National Government justice bill. Already this year I have spoken on a number of bills—not the least of which was the Corrections Amendment Bill—from this Government that seeks to undermine the basic human rights of prisoners and I think that must be because the National Government and the ACT Party have a very narrow view of human consciousness willpower and choice. In fact their view is not backed up by the latest in human psychology. What I hear from the Government side of the House is usually a desire to exercise vengeance on those who have been convicted of transgressing the law. That is punishment for the sake of punishment and it is incredibly costly. It costs significantly more. It is a very narrow view and it is incorrect to hold that an individual is always entirely and solely responsible for the crime they have committed. There are complex factors at play. We need to recognise that all of us make mistakes and that many of us if not all are capable of learning from our mistakes and changing our behaviour.  
So our approach to justice is more pragmatic and more fiscally responsible than the Government’s. It asks how we can best minimise the harm to society that comes from transgression of the law and how we can prevent it from happening again. It is not usually by locking non-violent offenders in a traumatic violent and alienating prison and taking away their rights but through factors like restorative justice which puts victims at the centre of the process. I am hopeful that this bill could result in a more effective use of community sentences and help us see a true reduction in crime rates at a much lower cost and a more just and fair Aotearoa New Zealand. Kia ora.