Prasad Rajen: Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (2012 Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Prasad Rajen: Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (2012 Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 28 June 2012. Volume:681;Page:3516. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD (Labour) 
: 
 I am glad to be taking a short call at the final stage of the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (2012 Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill. I understand that there is huge international interest in this particular bill today because I know that there are at least two people in Toronto Canada watching this bill and I just acknowledge my son and my daughter-in-law who are watching. There you are; I have done that. 
This is not a complicated bill. Two sunset clauses are being extended and that is where we find ourselves. The decent thing to do is to support it and that is what we are doing on this side of the House. But what has been interesting is just observing the process and reading the earlier speeches that people gave about this particular bill and the various stages of this bill. 
The original 2005 Act was designed to address a particular problem that occurred then in a particular case when prisoners were getting compensated and as the Hon Phil Goff has said it was not acceptable. The provisions of that legislation were put in place so that any moneys prisoners were getting were then to be channelled through to victims so that they could get fully compensated and that was the decent thing to do. This bill simply extends those provisions for now. 
It is interesting that some Government members—in the first and second readings of this bill and also during the Committee stage—have taken this very simple bill to inordinate lengths to make a different kind of statement. In the first reading Tim Macindoe said this and I think it is still his view: “This bill is part of a large measure a large arsenal of initiatives to improve public safety and respect for law and order”. Well this bill does nothing of the kind. It never did but of course members opposite never miss an opportunity to drive home that the only party that wants to push law and order is the National Party. Yet this legislation was put in place under Labour. 
Alfred Ngaro in the first reading also said something very similar: “National is reforming our criminal justice system to put a stronger emphasis on the victims and as our colleague has said” etc. etc. He was again calling up through this particular bill National’s focus on victims. In fact this bill does nothing of that sort. It is two simple provisions; it extends the sunset clauses. But they were not talking about that. Here was an opportunity—never let it pass. But of course Cam Calder is the other one. In fact Mr Calder did it again as he took a very very short call just a few minutes ago. For him this bill is just another example of the National Government working to improve the justice system. This bill— 
Mike Sabin 
: The best thing you can do to support victims is have less of them. 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD 
: —Mr Sabin does nothing of the sort. All this bill does is fix something the Government should have fixed a long time ago. This bill truth be told is really under these circumstances 2 days before it is required fixing a problem that Government members did not fix before. They may not be big enough to accept that but indeed that was the case. 
The comments that I have just quoted and Mr Saban’s comments a moment ago simply show that members opposite have really not grasped the essential nature of this bill. It is very simple—it is just extending two sunset clauses. Wear it proudly and say: “We should have fixed it before we didn’t but now we need to.” It is a bit like the Minister of Police last week wanting to push the button to crush the car then standing on the car— 
Mike Sabin 
: I thought we were talking about the specifics of the bill. 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD 
: —as if she had climbed a mountain and needed to plant a flag Mr Sabin. That was obscene. That was obscene and unnecessary but it was just another one of those instances of taking the opportunity to show that here is the Government tough on law and order. One car has been crushed and the provisions of the legislation have not been used to any great extent. 
I just repeat that this bill has come before the House in this form now simply to fix something the Government should have fixed some time ago. That is worth repeating and others have said that quite clearly. Mr Charles Chauvel has actually taken it further because there is another bill before the House a Government bill that will say how compensation systems should work for prisoners etc. and how that compensation should be passed on to victims. I think Mr Chauvel has put a lot of thought into his first reading speech; he has said there is more to it than that. The Government should do a first principles review and then go back and say: “What are we trying to do here and why is it that we are talking about only what happens to our prisoners and what compensation our prisoners get?”. 
Why are we not talking about windfalls that others get even if they are not in prison and why is that not to be channelled through to victims as well? That would be putting victims at the centre as Government members have been saying. At the moment that work has not been done and we certainly encourage that work to be done because there is an opportunity—there is a bill and there is 12 months to do it. I hope that well within that time frame the thinking will be done and it will be brought back. 
Finally there is another lesson in there which is a warning if you like to those who devise programmes in our institutions or elsewhere to ensure that those programmes are organised in such a way that they do respect human rights. I know that Tony Ryall judging by earlier comments he made about human rights does not respect human rights but it still is something— 
Louise Upston 
: Oh! 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD 
: Well the Hon Phil Goff actually quoted him. He actually quoted him and I did not see the Hon Tony Ryall standing up and resiling from those earlier comments. Maybe he will but the point is that human rights are important and anybody who has been in that role here or internationally knows that we will need to ensure that those rights are respected. It is not that difficult to do but sometimes in the kind of rather single-minded approach that some Government members have taken to law and order etc. you forget those things as well. It is entirely possible to resile from that and bring them together. With those comments I commend this bill to the House. Thank you.