McClay Todd: Children Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
McClay Todd: Children Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1459] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 I have to say to you Mr Assistant Speaker that having sat here for the last hour and a half listening to this debate I—along with much of the rest of the country for almost the whole of last year—have almost lost the will to breathe. All we have heard from the other side of the House is exactly where those members left off at the election last year. It has been about excuses. It has been about all the things they might have done all the things they could have done and now that they are on the other side of the House on the Opposition benches they have got all the examples of how to fix things. They think that they have all the answers. 
It gives me great pleasure to rise tonight to speak on the Children Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill. In doing so I start as most other speeches given in this House by Government members have started by saying that this is a Government that is meeting the commitments it made during the election campaign to deliver for New Zealanders in its first 100 days. I can see why the Opposition would be concerned about that. If I were sitting on the Opposition benches I would be concerned about a Government that has done so much in such a short period of time—100 days. The people emailing us calling us and writing the letters to the editor are people who like action and they have seen a lot of it here. 
We started this debate today with a Minister for Social Development and Employment who cares. We started with a Minister who stood up and said that we have got to do something about the appalling record of youth crime. It is a legacy that has grown over 9 years. I am glad to support the Minister Paula Bennett in the measures she has brought forward today. On 2 March last year during the campaign one could have picked up the newspapers and read about how levels of child crime youth crime and violence were rocketing under the Labour Government. One can go back find the newspapers and read them. Simon Power National’s justice and corrections spokesman at the time said that Labour continued to fail dismally in the fight against violent crime. At least Labour is consistent. At least the message it was delivering to New Zealanders last year and the year before that and the year before that is the very same message that it is delivering from the other side of the House today. Labour is saying that everything is all right in New Zealand and everything is OK. It is saying that nothing else needs to change and it is happy with its record. Well New Zealanders got to cast their vote and their opinion on that. They had quite a different idea. 
We have heard from the other side of the House: “Where is your evidence?” Let us have little look at this. [ 
Interruption 
] The member is right; I gave him the courtesy of being quiet. I ask the same from him. The 2007 crime figures show that since Labour came to power in 1999 violence by youth offenders aged 14 to 16 rose by 47 percent—47 percent. Everybody on that side of the House would have to take off their shoes and socks to be able to count to 47—47 percent is far too high. That is 4766 offences by young people of that age. That is amazing and alarming. Perhaps what is more alarming is that in just one year—in 2007—violence by children aged 10 to 13 years increased by a massive 30 percent—1201 offences. 
Tonight members on the other side of the House said that “It is OK and everything is all right. We did all the work that we had to.” That is far too much crime and that is far too many children whom Labour let down. Finally we have a Minister who is willing to work hard to help families and to help young people so that they will not go on to be criminals in the adult justice system. Labour will question these figures—and I expect nothing more—but I bet nobody on that side of the House can tell me how many young people get in trouble with the courts and then continue to get into trouble as adults. The figures are not there. The moment young people got to an age where they were adults Labour said that the problem was solved and somebody else could deal with it. That is not what this Government is about. 
Let me go back to the 14 to 16-year-olds in 2007. Robberies by 14 to 16-year-olds were up by 94 percent. Intimidation and threats were up by 69 percent. These are 14 to 16-year-olds; some of them would be taller than the members opposite but that is intimidation and threats. Grievous assault was up by 122 percent. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Who wrote that joke for you? 
TODD McCLAY 
: I am glad the member is proud of that—122 percent. Minor assaults were up by 20 percent. That is not good enough. I ask members what we should do about it. Should we wait until these children reach the age of consent give up on them and let them go to jail forever; or should we work with them and their families to ensure they realise that there is another choice and that for every choice there is a consequence? We can help them to get back on the straight and narrow. 
Do members know what this debate is about? It is about owning up taking responsibility and supporting the bill. It is as easy as that for members on the other side of the House—it is a matter of owning up and taking responsibility for the failure of the Labour Government over 9 years and of supporting this bill. 
I have heard others in the House speak tonight. I will not waste my breath or my words talking about the Green Party. I say that Green Party members are too busy jumping at shadows to realise we have a big problem in this House; for them it is about waking up. I listened very carefully to some members in this House who represent the Maori constituencies in New Zealand. I have great respect for the Maori Party and I listened very carefully and very closely to the things Hone Harawira said. Mr Harawira spoke with strength and passion and he spoke of strong families and strong family values. I recognise what he said and I support him in this. I will work closely with Te Ururoa Flavell in Rotorua Kawarau Murupara and all the other parts of my electorate to help build and reinforce strong families. But sometimes it takes a sharp shock. Sometimes it takes intervention. Sometimes it takes outside help for families and children to get back on the right track and that is what this legislation is about. 
I said earlier that there is a consequence for every action and equally there is a consequence for every inaction. When we look at the statistics today we see the appalling record of failure created over 9 years by the other side—the previous Labour Government—and the consequence of far too many young people who are in trouble. I heard another member on the opposite side of the House say that 12 and 13-year-olds are children. I agree—they are children. But the sad fact of the society we live in today is that the very children whom members opposite purport to be so concerned about are committing serious grown-up crimes. In 2007 and 2008 alone eight 14 to 16-year-olds were apprehended for homicide including five for murder one for manslaughter and two for attempted murder. Those young people are children but the crimes they are committing are not the crimes of children. It is important that we have intervention that we take responsibility as a society and that we take responsibility as a Government and own up to some of these things. 
Hon Paula Bennett 
: Talk about mentoring. 
TODD McCLAY 
: Mentoring is a very important thing. 
Let us think about military-style camps to help some of the worst of the young children who are getting into the most trouble. I am talking about young kids without help who will go on to fill up our prisons when they become adults. Maybe for the first time in their lives someone will treat them with a little bit of respect and in turn they will earn respect. Perhaps those young kids will then realise that they can respect themselves and respect others around them. 
The $35 million that this Government is committing to support these young people is a very small amount of money compared with the great cost to society and compared with the cost of all the reports to sort out the problems that we have heard about over the last 9 years. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: That’s enough. 
TODD McCLAY 
: No we are just getting started. 
National campaigned on this issue. We spoke widely on it. One of my colleagues opposite mentioned something about blood sports. I thought he was going to give us a bit of insight into the problem of youth crime but he said that society has the ability to tell us what it thinks at election time. Well guess what? Society did. At the last election we campaigned widely on this issue. We said we have to do more on this. Every single thing members see in this bill is something we spoke about widely and received support for. New Zealand society said it liked that and wanted a bit more of it. Society wants us to help our young people.