Pettis Jill: Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Bill — In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
Pettis Jill: Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Bill — In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21032] 
JILL PETTIS (Labour—Whanganui) 
: 
 National is voting against this bill today because an election is looming. Members should be under no misapprehension as to whether it is about the poor victim or whether it is about what National wants to do to appease the public. National’s motive for voting against this bill is purely and simply that by 24 September we must have an election. National is typically tough while in Opposition but a lamb while in Government. We on the Government side of the House and the Greens who are supporting this bill today know that we will never out-hang National. We will never be a “public floggings public hangings roll up to the revolution and bring along your knitting needles ladies” type of Government. That is not part of our personal philosophy. But quietly surely and positively this Government has done a huge amount to assist the victims of all manner of crimes. We are proud of the legislative changes we have been able to make to give victims’ rights a high priority. 
Those of us who are realists and who talk to real people of all socio-economic classes know that there is no way any Western developed country can ever say that there will never ever be crime again. We abhor crime. Thinking people abhor crime. Thinking people also find it abhorrent when prisoners are awarded compensation payments for wrongs that they may have suffered in prison but we also believe in the old adage that prevention is better than cure. It is much better to have systems in place to prevent abuse from occurring in those institutions in the first place. That is a priority. It does not scream out at people from the front pages of the papers but it works. It works to have systems and measures in place and to have appropriate staffing levels and well-trained staff. That is far more effective than salivating and drooling at the mouth about punishment and about how we will “fix those people”. 
National has been all over the show on this bill and that has been particularly evident in its actions in the House today. Those of us on the Government side of the House who are here at the moment have been in the House for most of the day and we have observed the body language and the behaviour of the Opposition members. Those members have been about as organised as—we will not draw an analogy. They were highly disorganised. A lot of that stems from the fact that the National Party has no leadership at all on this issue. That goes right back to September last year. On 14 September Don Brash said that National wanted to “prevent convicted criminals from collecting significant taxpayer compensation” but on the next day he said that National wanted legislation “removing the entitlement of prisoners to compensation” altogether. That conflicting attitude—one view one day another view the next—is very prevalent in the way the National Party has handled the debate at all stages of this bill. There is no leadership on this issue and those kinds of attitudes do not bode well for the social future of this country. 
In conclusion I just want to say that if a prisoner is awarded compensation despite the new guidelines that strictly limit payouts victims will not have to front up to the perpetrator of the crime that was committed against them. Victims will be contacted and they will be assisted in making a civil claim for damages against the sum that has been awarded to the prisoner. Victims will not even have to fill out the forms themselves. They can have an advocate a counsellor or a support person do that for them. This bill is about supporting victims and reducing or eliminating any trauma that they may be suffering because goodness knows they have suffered enough already. This legislation strikes a far better balance in favour of victims than the law that National left in place. I will not mention Mr Alexander’s behaviour because I do not think that behaviour is true of other United Future members. His behaviour today has just been odd—that is the most generous word I can use. But as I observed what has gone on from the salivating few members on the National benches I saw a sign of guilt because National had had 9 long years to do something about this issue and did nothing. Actions speak louder than words and this Government with the support of the Greens has taken positive action to support victims.