Adams Amy: Victims of Crime Reform Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Adams Amy: Victims of Crime Reform Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 04 October 2011. Volume:676;Page:21690. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) 
: 
 I am rising tonight to take a call on the first reading of the Victims of Crime Reform Bill which as we have heard will amend the Victims’ Rights Act. 
It is interesting that earlier this evening I was lucky enough to take a call on the Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill. In that contribution I spoke about some of the steps that this Government has taken to improve the lot of victims in our justice system. This bill really is another step along that path. I think it is worth just going through that because they really are part of a comprehensive package that National set out initially in Opposition when we said that if we had the privilege of becoming the Government one of our key priorities was to ensure that the victims of crime—the people who are in the system through no fault of their own—are treated considerably better than they had been treated to that point. 
That has taken a number of steps. We have been busy addressing drivers of crime and we have seen the success of that with the crime stats that have been released in the last few days. It is down 7 percent nationally and nearly 15 percent in Canterbury I am very pleased to say. We have seen the offender levy which the Opposition derided as a meaningless gimmick yet a full 5 months ahead of schedule it has reached its first-year target. As a result of that legislation victims are accessing right now real meaningful services and support that they would not otherwise have had. That is a meaningful step to make victims’ lives easier which the Labour Opposition derided criticised and clearly opposed. Police safety orders have been put in place to ensure that our victims of domestic violence get on-the-spot protection as they need it when they need it from the police. We have improved access to and funding for restorative justice. The last piece this evening which I mentioned earlier was to ensure that where we could we could reduce the cost and time delays of being involved in the criminal court processes. Anyone who has been involved in that process knows that it is tremendously stressful for victims of crime to have to relive the matter over and over again for months and months on end while our criminal justice system grinds away to a very slow outcome. 
The next step is to look at the issues that this bill addresses. Those issues relate to making sure that victims are far better involved in the court process as it is going through and making sure that they are getting the information they need about the process the proceedings what is going on before the trial what is happening during the trial and of course at the other end what is happening when the convicted person may be put out on bail and during their sentencing. It is about ensuring that victims can involve themselves in those proceedings in a way that is more meaningful for them particularly around reviewing the laws on victim impact statements. 
One of the parts that has not been talked about as much in some of the contributions tonight but which I think is very important is requiring the establishment of a code for victims to ensure that in the future when decisions are made in the justice system the rights and the entitlements of victims are at the very centre of those decisions. 
I just have to say in closing that I find it quite ironic that I have spent most of the past week as part of the Justice and Electoral Committee looking at the Video Camera Surveillance (Temporary Measures) Bill and as part of that committee process we have had certain parties in this House become very exercised about the rights of offenders and making sure that we looked after the rights of offenders. Well they do have a place but I can tell this House that the rights that I am far more interested in are the rights of the victims. If it is a balancing act between the offenders’ rights under our system and the victims’ rights my money is on the victims’ rights every single time. I would far rather this House put its energies its efforts and its passion into protecting the rights of victims every time and I am very happy to commend the bill.