Mark Ron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Mark Ron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19047] 
11.  
RON MARK (NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Corrections 
: What assurance can he give that criminals placed on home detention are not a serious risk to the community? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 Decisions to place offenders on home detention are made by the New Zealand Parole Board which is an independent statutory body. I can give the member an assurance that the board in making its decisions is required by the Parole Act to consider as its prime consideration the safety of the community. 
Ron Mark 
: How can the Minister have faith in a system that allows a high-risk sex offender such as John Albert Thomas Clarke a man who in 1997 was charged with assault with intent to rape threatening to kill and beating his female victim with his fists and a tennis racquet who was then bailed against the express wishes of the police and who while on bail kidnapped raped violently assaulted and threatened to kill a 15-year-old school girl to be placed on back-end home detention? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: In the short time since the question was set down I have had a chance to look at some of the matters the member has raised. Firstly the offender did not serve his home detention at the house the member referred to and he completed his home detention without incident. I am aware that following the home detention he was released on conditions then without permission went to stay with a woman he had recently met and her children—against the conditions that had been laid down for him. As soon as the Community Probation Service found that out it took enforcement action and this offender is now in custody awaiting a final recall hearing before the Parole Board. 
Georgina Beyer 
: What reports has he received on rates of reoffending by offenders who have served a sentence of home detention? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: From 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 offenders who completed home detention had a reimprisonment rate of around 10 percent 12 months after completing the order compared with a reimprisonment rate for offenders released from minimum security prisons of around 25 percent. However I am looking into a couple of issues: firstly whether judges should be making the decision about who receives front-end home detention; and secondly the criterion for back-end home detention which is linked to the current Global Positional System technology pilot. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: Why is it Government policy that serious violent offenders should be entitled to early release on home detention prior to parole? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: That is part of the legislative framework that has been set by this Government. As I have already indicated to the member it is one of the issues under consideration. 
Ron Mark 
: Can the Minister explain why Clarke after serving only 7 years of what was essentially a 44-year jail sentence was placed on home detention in the care of a 76-year-old social support worker who had no knowledge whatsoever of his previous convictions who ran a social services facility with female staff that catered to vulnerable women without full and complete disclosure of Clarke’s past history? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: In relation to the last bit I am certain that a number of the facts the member has outlined are possibly in dispute. On the first point those decisions were made by the Parole Board which is an independent statutory body that looks at a wide range of things—primarily the safety of the community. 
Ron Mark 
: How can the Minister—indeed the public—have any confidence whatsoever in the processes of the Parole Board or the Department of Corrections when it declares a remorseless repeat sexual offender such as John Albert Thomas Clarke suitable for home detention then allows his release on parole only for him to offend again within weeks; and when his third victim asked police what she could do to keep her family safe the advice given to her was: “Change your name take your children pack your house and leave town.”? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: The decision on who gets home detention is made by the Parole Board. Its primary concern is taking into account the safety of the community. It is its decision to make.