Pillay Lynne: Criminal Justice Reform Bill — In Committee 
Pillay Lynne: Criminal Justice Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:640;Page:10228] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour—Waitakere) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to stand and speak in support of the Criminal Justice Reform Bill. I am very pleased to see National Opposition members acknowledging at least a little support for this bill but it is a major disappointment that that support is very minimal. 
This Labour Government’s approach to justice and crime is commendable and it is something that we in the Labour Government are very proud of. We believe that the needs of victims are central to thinking about crime and justice. We have actually put up rather than just indulged in all the rhetoric we hear from the other side of the Chamber. The Labour Party in Government is in fact the only party to have ever passed legislation to enshrine victims’ rights. That was in 1987 and we have done it again much more recently in 2002. This bill builds on that legislation and works towards certainty clarity and a better justice system for all. 
This Government responded to public concern with the Bail Act of 2000 the Sentencing Act of 2002 and the Parole Act which followed the Sentencing Act in the same year. These laws mean that more offenders are being caught sentences are longer and inmates are serving a greater proportion of their sentences. That clarity and that certainty—certainly to victims—is reassuring. It is certainly a very difficult time for victims but having some certainty in sentencing has found favour with a broad range of people throughout New Zealand. I can see Mr Finlayson nodding reasonably wisely over there. 
I know that this Government has a strong record on law and order. In fact we are seeing the lowest crime rate in New Zealand for quite some time and improvements made since 1999 to justice legislation have tightened up the penalties facing dangerous and violent criminals. We now have the lowest rate of crime since 1982 although we would not think so when from time to time we hear the rhetoric from the other side of the Chamber. 
The bill is a continuation of this Government’s commitment to a fair accessible and effective criminal justice system. It is about improving what we do in prisons in rehabilitation in incorporating employment and in reintegration into our communities. Certainly the community-based systems that have been introduced—community detention and intensive supervision—go a long way towards helping to steer offenders away from crime in the future. It does this by placing greater emphasis on offenders’ work and life skills. We know that a large part of dealing with criminals in the justice system is not just about punishment or being accountable for one’s actions but about actually setting up a system through which criminals are rehabilitated thereby enabling them to go on to make a meaningful contribution to society rather than travel down the path of crime again. 
To make home detention a sentence in its own right is a very sensible and common-sense thing to do. It is a useful option for offenders—offenders who would otherwise spend a very short time in prison. By abolishing back-ended detention we will have a much more sensible use of the home detention system. 
 Certainly to amend the parole system to reflect greater truth in sentencing is very much part of this legislation. Parole will be an option only after a prisoner has served two-thirds of his or her sentence rather than the current one-third of a sentence and only for sentences of more than 12 months. Prisoners serving sentences of fewer than 12 months will be absolutely ineligible for parole. It is expected that instead of the average prisoner serving 62 percent of his or her sentence which is currently the case he or she will serve over 80 percent of it. I feel that that approach is common sense.