Barclay Todd: Parole Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBarclay Todd: Parole Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 11 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1531. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TODD BARCLAY (National—Clutha-Southland):As a new member on the Law and Order Committee I would like to acknowledge the current and former members who have sat on the committee and considered this bill. I understand from hearing the contributions that have been made today that they have done a great job of trying to strike the right balance of interests from an administrative perspective an offender’s perspective and a victim’s perspective. However the contribution of Green MP David Clendon tended to put more of an emphasis on the minority of offenders who may well be in an innocent position and who are being forced to go into some form of programme that they do not necessarily agree with. I think I would like to make my contribution more focused on the victims because this Government puts victims at the heart of the justice system and our plan to reduce unnecessary parole hearings for offenders will reduce stress for the victims of these crimes.As a party we take a strong stance on law and order and the Parole Amendment Bill implements our post-election action plan to reduce the number of unnecessary parole hearings where the offender has little prospect of release. Each year there are about 5000 parole hearings and on average offenders have about three hearings before they are granted parole. The Parole Act will be changed to extend the maximum postponement period for offenders serving life sentences or indeterminate sentences and determinate sentences of 10 years or more from 3 years to 5 years for the most extreme cases. It will also extend the maximum interval between parole hearings from 1 year to 2 years.I want to go back to victims because this is the main crux of my contribution tonight. The next point I want to make is around the fact that this bill provides for victims offenders and other authorised persons who attend parole hearings to do so remotely such as via videoconferencing because it is not a comfortable experience for all victims to appear before the Parole Board. I appreciate that it is not a requirement in all cases but whether or not they are there in person they are certainly there in emotion knowing that the hearing is taking place. So for victims of crimes should they be faced with the very stressful prospect of parole hearings year after year when an offender is clearly not safe to release into the community and has made little or no effective rehabilitation? They should not be faced with this stressful prospect and that is what the intention of this bill tries to bring forward.This Government was elected to improve the justice system for those who find themselves in it through no fault of their own. We have received a clear mandate to do so and over the last 6 years we have made a number of significant improvements to the justice system. We have put 600 extra police into the front line we have seen a 155 percent increase in foot patrol police officers between 2011 and 2013 and we have given our police new tools such as Tasers lock boxes in police cars DNA testing of offenders and smartphones and tablets. Just the rolling out of smartphones and tablets alone is saving more than half a million police hours each year which is the equivalent of about 345 extra police officers. As a result we have seen the lowest crime rate in 35 years. Reoffending is down by more than 12 percent. This is partly because more prisoners are receiving drug and alcohol treatment before they leave prison and it is also partly because all prisoners are now receiving education with individual learning plans designed individually for them.It is in the interests of taxpayers prisoners and victims that these prisoners will be integrated into society through these added social systems that are being put upon them while they are in prison to try to help them get back into a system where they can enter the workforce and enter society without feeling like they are ostracised before they enter back into society. So this Government is putting victims at the centre of the justice system with tougher punishments on offenders new laws and new services for victims. Although we can never legislate away the pain and suffering faced by victims the changes proposed in this bill will certainly help ensure that victims are not revictimised by their participation in this process. Thank you.