Collins Judith: Parole (Extended Supervision) and Sentencing Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee 
Collins Judith: Parole (Extended Supervision) and Sentencing Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee 
[Volume:618;Page:14154] 
JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon) 
: 
 As the Hon Tony Ryall has so eloquently stated this bill is too little too late. We have a situation in this country where parole is a joke. People know that after this Government amended the parole laws a person who had been sentenced to 9 years in jail was likely to get out of jail after serving a mere 3 years. Parole is a joke and this country needs significantly more than the Parole (Extended Supervision) and Sentencing Reform Amendment Bill can ever give it. 
The legislation was premised on the basis that it would deal with child sex offenders. I do not think that there would be a member in this House or in any other term in this Parliament who would not like to see the whole issue of child sex offending done away with forever and ever and never come back to haunt this country again. Unfortunately that will not happen—not in my lifetime and I suggest not in anyone’s lifetime. The reality is that unfortunately some people prey on young children. In any right-thinking person’s mind those people are absolutely depraved and no matter what we do with them in prison or anywhere else they will always be a danger to society. I am not aware of any studies that show no matter what we do with child sex offenders that they can ever be trusted in society. Certainly some of the efforts that the Department of Corrections has made over the years have shown that there has been some improvement but never such that any one of us in this House would ever trust them with our children or grandchildren; nor should we. “Once bitten twice shy” society should say of those people. 
Some parts of this bill are an improvement on the current system but that is not saying much. The current system is so poor and so devoid of any concept of punishment because punishment in this country seems to be a bad thing when it comes to offenders. Punishment is something reserved for the victims of crime. Unfortunately this Government is soft on crime. Despite all the Government’s rhetoric when it was in Opposition despite all the rhetoric from Mr Goff when he was the Opposition spokesperson on justice this Government has proven itself to be remarkably soft on crime. 
One thing it has to deal with is the recidivist culture in the criminal element in New Zealand. Recidivism occurs because we have no concept of deterrents or punishment. We consistently hear comments from the Department of Corrections and its very very culturally sensitive staff that losing one’s liberty is itself the punishment. Some of us on this side of the House do not believe that that is punishment enough. We do believe that deterrents work. We do believe that punishment actually works too. It is about time that we did. 
Mr Tanczos who is making comments obviously feeling that I do not understand concepts of law and order and crime and punishment should consider that as a parent we are told that when our child is naughty we should explain what has happened and then have time out as a punishment. We do not have time out as something else; we have it as a punishment. That is because children do not like to be kept away from others. They do not like to be deprived of their toys or be kept away from something they want like the television or friends. In fact in our prison system criminals do not have to be kept away from their friends their toys or their televisions because they are all provided. 
What is not being provided is a system that educates people who need to be educated. The system does not provide any sort of deterrents. When sex offenders are jailed with other sex offenders they will be with a group of people who consistently reinforce their own behaviour. We then let them out on society and into our communities. 
In my particular electorate of Clevedon one such sex offender was released into the community on bail recently. Before that he was released into the community after having finished his sentence. People in the community were extremely concerned that that man was there. They feared that he was living very close to a school. The next thing that happened was that he was accused of a particular sex offence yet again with a boy. He has admitted it and consequently we have yet another victim and it is only the victim in that case who has come forward. How many other victims do not come forward because somewhere in their minds they have convinced themselves that they are at fault in some way; that they have done something wrong when that is just the very sick and perverse attitude that those manipulators of children have placed in their minds? Those children who in many cases have very loving and caring parents are manipulated by the arch manipulators of the criminal world. That is what we are dealing with with child sex offenders. 
I am supportive of the fact that this legislation is at least an attempt by the Government to improve the situation. What I am not supportive of is that it does not go far enough. As decent-minded people with our own political views—and I do not think that Mr Tanczos and I will ever agree on very much but at least I do acknowledge that he is a decent person with his own views—I do not think that we will ever understand the perverse nature of people who are utterly perverse and evil in their manipulations and what they do. Worse is the fact that so often they place themselves in positions where they have access to children. 
It is worse that they put themselves in positions where they have access to mothers of young children and they target those mothers who often are in positions where they have very little self-esteem. Sex offenders use that position to get access to little children. There is nothing in this bill that will necessarily stop that. As Mr Ryall said: “What’s the bracelet going to do?”. Some of us who come as I do originally from a farming background would say that there are places where that bracelet could go which might do some good but unfortunately I have been reminded by Mr Jones that we are supposed to live in a civilised society and I should not be thinking thoughts like that. 
I can imagine that many New Zealanders would think exactly the same as I do that prison is far too good for those people and it is about time we faced those facts. Occasionally I think that there might be some merit in some of the sharia law that some of the Muslim countries use in those issues. I never thought I would say it but perhaps we could look at that in this particular instance. As Mr Jones said it would be the unkindest cut of all. I am consistently told that chemical castration will not help those perverts. I notice that every man in the House is suddenly looking a bit worried. However I do not understand why castration would not help those people because as far as I am concerned it would certainly help some of the victims of their demented and revolting crimes. 
Mr Ryall has put our position on this very succinctly and very well. We believe that this amendment is simply not good enough. As I said some parts of the legislation are at least an improvement but that is all it is. Next year when we are in Government we will have to change this legislation and make it significantly tougher. I am extremely pleased that we will not have to wait very long.