3. Question No. 3—JusticeJAMIE STRANGE (Labour—Hamilton East) to the Minister of JusticeQuestion No. 3—Justice3. JAMIE STRANGE (Labour—Hamilton East) to the Minister of Justice: What recent announcements has the Government made about increasing accountability for young offenders?Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN (Minister of Justice): E te pae Whakawā e tika ana ki te tautoko te tangi o ētahi tangata kei roto i tēnei Whare mō te whānau pani mō ngā tāngata kua wehe ki te pō i tēnei ata heoi haere haere haere atu rā. [Mr Speaker it is appropriate to support the condolences by the members of this House to the families of the victims and to share sympathies to the victims who died this morning and so I'd like to say travel well.]Yesterday the Government continued to expand on our approach to law and order by announcing the introduction of a new offence for ram raiding offending with a maximum sentence of 10 years. Our approach to date has focused on interventions for children and young people who have committed ram raid offending by providing those intensive wrap-around supports. While our approach so far has been effective in decreasing youth offending rates overall there is still a cohort that we have not been able to reach. So we have introduced further measures to enable decision makers to have a broader suite of tools particularly for serious and persistent offending behaviour. We are introducing this offence because we understand the concerns that exist that offences do not adequately recognise the seriousness and the destructiveness of ram raids and the harm that they cause victims. Jamie Strange: How will the new offence address gaps in the youth justice system?Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: Currently existing offences such as burglary are used to charge alleged ram raid offenders. We've heard concerns that there is a gap in how we respond to children under 14 whose offending does not already meet the threshold for Youth Court or care and protection interventions. We will also be amending the Oranga Tamariki Act so that a 12- or a 13-year-old who is charged with a ram raid offence can be escalated through to the Youth Court jurisdiction. This recognises that for a small group of these offenders we need to do more to break the cycle of offending and to provide greater accountability. As a result of gaps in the current system children and young people do not always receive the responses with the right level of immediacy intensity or duration to address their needs and the underlying factors that contribute to offending.Jamie Strange: What new powers will this offence provide police and the wider youth justice system to deal with those offenders?Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: The new offence will mean police and the courts will have more tools to keep offenders from getting back on the streets including through bail conditions measures such as non-association curfew residing at specific addresses not taking drugs or alcohol and in some instances detention and Oranga Tamariki custody where there was a risk of the child absconding reoffending or preventing loss or destruction of evidence or interferences with witnesses. It can also include warnings and alternative actions with escalation available to an Oranga Tamariki - led intention-to-charge family group conference. An intention-to-charge family group conference plan with escalation is also available to Youth Court if the plan is not agreed or it's not completed and in addition Youth Court orders for a minority including residential orders of up to six months being available if the charge is proven and supervision up to 12 months following the order. However as we're really clear: locking kids up and throwing away the key is not an approach that is evidence-based. It is likely that the most children would receive is a section 282 discharge if a family group conference plan is completed successfully.Jamie Strange: What other announcements to address youth offending has the Government made this week?Hon KIRITAPU ALLAN: Earlier this week the Government announced new aggravating factors for offenders for example posting their crimes online and for those who use young people to commit a crime as well as greater requirements for young offenders to attend education programmes or undertake community activities. We're increasing funding for police prosecutors supporting the police to clear the case backlog in District Courts and to enable them to pursue criminal offending. We are also improving family group conferences and providing funding for more family group coordinators who will be focused specifically on youth crime issues. We're expanding the circuit-breaker fast-track intervention programme for young offenders to new regions and creating a new intensive programme to break the cycle for up to 60 recidivist offenders. It's important to note these interventions are working but for a small cohort which we aren't reaching stronger deterrents and consequences are required to ensure accountability to communities. This Government is committed to doing what it can to break that cycle of crime.