Katene Rahui: Third Readings — 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Katene Rahui: Third Readings — 
[Sitting date: 07 July 2011. Volume:673;Page:19912. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker Robertson. I stand at the third readings of the bills arising out of the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill to acknowledge on behalf of the Maori Party our utmost respect for the sponsor of this legislation. If I could be so bold I might mention that it takes a Maori woman to make sweeping changes that encompass some 20 separate bills overflowing on to two pages of the Order Paper. This legislation is an absolutely fitting tribute to the skills and leadership of Minister te Heuheu. Georgina te Heuheu is well used to breaking new ground. She was the first Maori woman to gain a law degree and to be admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court. She is the first Maori woman to chair the Maori Affairs Committee and only the second Maori woman to be appointed to a New Zealand Cabinet. In the decade prior to entering Parliament in 1997 Minister te Heuheu was a member of the Waitangi Tribunal a director of the Maori Development Corporation and a member of the Courts Consultative Committee. I mention the vast experience that the Minister has brought to this legislation as a tribute to one of our most distinguished wahineMaori politicians. Her decision to retire from politics at the end of this term will be a loss to the executive and to the House. I have no doubt that her expertise and knowledge will be eagerly sought after by Tuwharetoa Tuhoe Te Arawa and Ngati Awa when she returns home. 
I want to make one other acknowledgment and that is to John McEnteer who has applied himself conscientiously to the task of getting this legislation through the House. 
The bill seeks to address a general concern about the amount of overdue fines the dissatisfaction of victims when offenders do not comply with reparation orders and the frustration of creditors and debtors using the courts’ civil debt enforcement process. There are longstanding matters of concern which the Minister herself has dealt with in a comprehensive and efficient manner. 
The general concept of criminal matters and penalties is not exactly a matter that our constituency has raised with us as a matter of priority. The Maori Party does however support the effective use of taxpayers’ money as it relates to a more efficient court system including the collection of fines. I want to be quite clear that we distinguish between the action of the State pre-court the process of sentencing prosecutions and charges and the actual administration of the sentence handed down. 
The Maori Party has consistently raised concerns about the administration of the justice system. This nation to our shame has a system of justice in which one group of people—indigenous New Zealanders—is disproportionately overrepresented. Maori are four to five times more likely to be apprehended prosecuted and convicted for a criminal offence than non-Maori. This legislation does nothing about that but we are hopeful that the work taking place under the Address the Drivers of Crime strategy will make some desperately needed progress with the fence at the top of the cliff rather than the bat at the bottom. 
This raft of legislation is all about honouring one’s dues and paying up on debts incurred. This is an approach to enhance the administration of the fines system rather than letting things slip and eventually sending recalcitrant offenders off to jail. We have had a huge issue in New Zealand of overdue penalties so anything that can improve upon the administration of the system has to be supported. Finally I have to say that of course we would rather not be devoting some time in the House to the issue of reparation of crimes and punishment. It will be a great day when our focus can be on well-being and whanau ora rather than courts and criminal matters.