Dunne Peter: Urgent Debates — Corrections Department—Reports on Graeme Burton 
Dunne Peter: Urgent Debates — Corrections Department—Reports on Graeme Burton 
[Volume:637;Page:7897] 
Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future) 
: 
 I disagree with the description of the situation as laughable that was given by the last speaker Simon Power. It is actually tragic. It is tragic that the system has failed the Bell family the Ashleys the Burtons and all of the victims. It is tragic that the Parole Board has been shown to be manifestly inefficient—to put it at its most polite—in the exercise of its duties. It is also tragic that we are now having a debate about accountabilities and about some of the issues that lead to people being put in this situation in the first go-off. 
I want to put on record my sympathy for the Kuchenbecker family and the tragedy they suffered when Burton went on his rampage in the Wainuiomata hills. Any New Zealanders out enjoying a ramble on that bush track have the right to do so in confidence that their safety is not going to be compromised by some mad criminal out on a rampage as Burton was that day. 
As the situation has unfolded subsequently—and I have some sympathy with the point of the previous speaker about the linkage of cases—a number of issues have arisen that need to be addressed. For instance when Burton was finally apprehended he said that he was the one who had been pleading for assistance and not getting it. Why was that? It might have been that his probation officer was on leave. It might have been that the process by which the Parole Board dealt with the case in the first place was ineffectual. But whatever it was it is totally unacceptable that a deranged killer who says he wants help does not get it let alone the families of his victims and the people in the Wainuiomata and Hutt Valley area being put on notice for several days that he is loose amongst them and out of control. 
The question arises as to what has to happen to prevent repetitions in the future. Accountabilities need to be exercised be they at the Parole Board level at the department level or at the Minister’s level; responsibility has to be accepted. 
I think the first point that needs to be stressed here is that violent criminals of Burton’s type should not be eligible for parole. I think a very large part of the problem emerges because a violent criminal of this type becomes eligible for parole. 
Next the process by which that parole hearing takes place does not take sufficient account of the circumstances. It is not too long ago that there was a debate in the community about whether the victims’ families had any right to be involved in a Parole Board hearing or even to be made aware of the fact that a hearing was taking place that might see someone released into the community. We have moved a little beyond that—thankfully—but I think this case shows that the evidence tests that the Parole Board applies in determining whether to release someone early are not appropriate to the circumstances. This is not a court of law. This is not a body that needs the highest test available to it. This is a body that needs to be able to determine whether a person is a risk to the community and whether it is safe to let that person have his or her freedom. It is not a question of the old principle in the Scottish court of “not proven” applying; it has to be absolute. If there is any doubt at all then parole should not be given. I think that is one of the first lessons to be taken from this case. 
The second issue—and I am conscious time is almost up—is what happened in terms of follow-up. It is simply not acceptable that someone is released without adequate follow-up. 
The final point I want to make is that we can wallow all we like in the aftermath of the Burton case but the test will be the extent to which departments Parole Boards Ministers and Governments learn the lesson and make sure we have no repetitions in the future. I look at the family of Karl Kuchenbecker and ask what right they have to their safety and their protection. Why did their innocent loved one pay the penalty for these tragic events? This cannot continue and therefore we have to take responsibility and make sure that adequate steps are in place to prevent repetitions of this type of situation ever occurring.