Jones Dail: Parole (Extended Supervision) Amendment Bill Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Readings 
Jones Dail: Parole (Extended Supervision) Amendment Bill Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Readings 
[Volume:618;Page:14191] 
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
: 
 On behalf of New Zealand First and as the Opposition spokesperson on justice for New Zealand First I wish to remind the House that New Zealand First reaffirms its opposition to the Parole Act of 2002 and the Sentencing Act of 2002. That was our policy then and it continues to be our policy now. I see tonight the National Party are cuddling up to the Labour Government on this particular legislation and at this hour of the night that must be quite a cuddle! When the National Party supports the Labour Government it tends to be described as cuddling up to the Labour Government and we do not support cuddling up to the Labour Government in the second reading and following. 
As soon as we had a close look at our policy—the two new members; Edwin Perry and myself—we realised where New Zealand First stood on the matter and we have constantly opposed this legislation in the House tonight. We take the view that this legislation should be repealed now. The National Party comes up with some sort of policy that perhaps sometime after 2005 something might happen to this legislation but we want to see all of it go now. That is our policy. We do not accept any amendments to it at all; it should all go. 
This legislation allows high-risk sexual offenders more freedom and to be able to get out into the community more. That is what will happen under the Parole Board’s view of these matters. Once it sees high-risk sexual offenders being allowed to go out into the community it will grant more parole. 
There was an interesting comment from the Minister. He said that more people are being denied parole. That is right; he said more people are being denied parole today. That is because today under the Labour Government’s legislation more people can apply for parole. If one can apply for parole after one-third of a sentence rather than two-thirds it is mathematically certain that more people will apply for parole and more people will be denied parole. So there is no point in the Minister saying that more people are being denied parole today than before; it is only because more people can apply for it under this Labour Government legislation which New Zealand First does not support—as the Rt Hon Winston Peters made clear when the party opposed both the Parole Act and the Sentencing Act in May 2002. 
We do not support a system that allows high-risk sex offenders for example to be let out about one-third of the way through their sentences. We say that they should stay in prison until the end of their sentences; and then only if they have shown remorse with perhaps some degree of rehabilitation then for them there should be the type of extended supervision mentioned in this legislation after the completion of their sentences. It is a good idea but only after those people complete their sentences. 
Various amendments were put forward during the Committee stage of this legislation by the ACT party and I think New Zealand First supported every one of them. We supported every ACT amendment on this issue because only ACT and New Zealand First have remained consistent with their voting in May 2002 and have continued to oppose the Sentencing Act and the Parole Act. Many other amendments were put including one put forward by the National Party and New Zealand First supported with an open mind the National Party amendment to add a new clause 37A. The clause said: “Under no circumstances will an offender be regarded as suitable for home detention if they have committed a violent offence or sexual offence.” Well that is totally consistent with our policy and I am glad the National Party is picking up New Zealand First policy but it does that all the time does it not? So we are not at all surprised to see our policy being mirrored in National Party policy yet again. 
There was a referendum in New Zealand not too long ago in which 92 percent of New Zealanders wanted tougher legislation. They did not really get it in the Parole Act and the Sentencing Act in 2002 and that is why we opposed that legislation. It is interesting that only recently in this House 0.3 percent of people in New Zealand society—homosexuals and lesbians—wanted a form of legislation and this minority Labour Government has given it to them. That shows where the priorities of this minority Labour Government are. It will not support tougher legislation as New Zealand First would do on sentencing and parole but it will support very very readily the 0.3 percent of the community who want a certain type of lifestyle—a type of lifestyle that is not lived by 99.7 percent of our society. 
 That shows up this Labour Party for what it is. It has no heart for tough legislation. This legislation is totally out of order in the sense that those people should be made to continue their sentences. The minority Labour Government if it had wanted to adopt that policy could have brought in legislation to that effect just as it has brought in legislation for homosexuals and lesbians. It has failed to do so and that shows the weakness of the Government on law and order matters.