Boscawen John: Victims of Crime Reform Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Boscawen John: Victims of Crime Reform Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 04 October 2011. Volume:676;Page:21694. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon JOHN BOSCAWEN (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 It is a privilege to stand up and take a call this evening on the Victims of Crime Reform Bill. I do not intend to take up my full 10-minute speaking slot. One of the great privileges of being a member of Parliament is to come into this Chamber to present one’s views and to debate with fellow members of Parliament so given that I expect this to be my last week of Parliament and my last opportunity to do so having listened to the debate I felt honour bound to come down here and express some of those views. 
We have heard in the House this afternoon National members crowing about the reduction in crime. 
Hon Members 
: That’s right. 
Hon JOHN BOSCAWEN 
: They have been crowing about the 7 percent reduction in crime nationally as Amy Adams reminded us. As we hear from the interjections tonight that is right. It is right and this Government should be very proud of its achievement. 
It should be very proud of its achievement in that regard but it is a pity that Amy Adams did not mention one other thing. She talked about what the Government had done and about what National had promoted but it is a pity that she almost seemed too ashamed to refer to the ACT Party’s three-strikes legislation. The ACT Party campaigned on law and order and on keeping the streets of this country safe more than any other party in this Parliament. It remains one of the great achievements of the ACT Party in the last 3 years to pass that legislation. [ 
Interruption 
] I hear the heckles but as we heard so proudly this afternoon from the Minister of Police crime is down 7 percent. Crime is down 7 percent and why is that? Why is that? 
We are debating this afternoon and this evening the Victims of Crime Reform Bill but we should actually be looking at how we reduce the number of victims. Yes we need to look at victims’ rights. There is probably no party that is more concerned about the victims of crime but what the ACT Party has done is actually try to reduce that crime. I remind the members of this House that one of the most important bills that were passed in this Parliament was ACT’s three-strikes bill. 
I remind members and the public that this Parliament has taken serious measures to punish repeat serious offenders. I remind members that when someone comes up on their first serious violent offence they are sentenced they serve what the judge gives and they get parole. When they come up on their second serious violent offence they are denied parole. They have to serve the sentence they are given. It may not be the maximum sentence for that particular crime but they have to serve what the court orders. That is very important but just as important the judge gives them a very serious warning. The judge gives them a very serious warning and the offender is told that if they come back before the court on a third serious offence they will serve the maximum sentence. In reviewing the Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill I know there are many criminal charges that carry terms of 7 or 14 years in prison. 
Looking through the preamble to the Victims of Crime Reform Bill I see that one of the provisions of this bill is that it will widen the scope of what victims may include in their victim impact statements. It will widen the scope of what victims may include in their victim impact statements. When I think about victims and about victim impact statements it is hard to ignore the work of the Sensible Sentencing Trust. If there is any organisation that has stood up for the rights of victims it is the Sensible Sentencing Trust. It is a Hawke’s Bay - based organisation that is operating throughout New Zealand and that actually stands up for the rights of victims. I salute the people who lead that organisation—in particular Garth and Anne McVicar. But I would like to remind this House this evening that there is another person who worked very closely with the Sensible Sentencing Trust: my former colleague David Garrett. There is no person who did more to push the three-strikes legislation than David Garrett—his intimate knowledge of criminal law and the work that the former parliamentary leader of the ACT Party Rodney Hide did to put that legislation into place. I think we need to acknowledge those two people because reductions in crime do not just happen. There are things that drive them. 
We now have over 700 people who are on their first strike. There are 700 people who are on their first strike and who have appeared before the court been convicted of a criminal offence and been warned by the judge that if they come up before the court on a second occasion they will not be getting parole. Should they come up a third time they will be serving the maximum sentence. 
It was also interesting to hear Amy Adams talk about the fact that for a large part of the last week she and her colleagues in the Justice and Electoral Committee have been considering the Video Camera Surveillance (Temporary Measures) Bill. She said that she would much rather stand up for the victims of crime than for the offenders. She would much rather stand up for the victims of crime than for the offenders. Well like Stuart Nash I remind Amy Adams that all New Zealanders have rights. Yes if a person is convicted of a crime they should be punished and lose their freedom. If a person is convicted they lose their freedom but they do not lose their rights. 
It is interesting that we have been debating the Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill this afternoon and one of the fundamental tenets of our constitution is that a person is not guilty unless it is proved beyond reasonable doubt. They should not be required to assist in their own prosecution. 
The ACT Party has had two great victories in the last couple of weeks. We have secured significant changes to the Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill. We were instrumental in forcing the Video Camera Surveillance (Temporary Measures) Bill to a select committee and we will see the results of that on Thursday. 
Let me finish how I started. Probably one of our greatest achievements is passing the three-strikes legislation. National members can stand up and talk about the 7 percent reduction in crime but they should look at why that has happened. Those sorts of things do not happen by accident. The three-strikes legislation is another example of what the ACT Party has achieved in the last 3 years and why we should be returned to Parliament. Thank you. 
Bill read a first time.  
Bill referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee.