Boyack RachelRACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson): Thank you Mr Speaker. Thank you for the opportunity to take a call on the Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Bill.I want to begin just by drawing on some of the comments from my colleague Arena Williams around the politicisation that we've been facing in this House and in the national narrative—and by national I mean a nationwide narrative—around whether we are being soft on crime or tough on crime; whether we support the victim or whether we support the perpetrator. We look at these matters relating to justice in a black and white way.I just want to take a short time to speak about the time when I was actually a victim of a serious crime. It's context that I bring in my analysis around justice. Because when I was in my early twenties living in Auckland I had what could almost be termed a home invasion of someone entering the property which I was sleeping in on my own.It was probably one of the most frightening experiences of my life to open the door of the flat I was staying in in the heart of Parnell and to see a man who I did not recognise standing at the top of the landing stairs in a very large villa all by myself in the middle of Parnell. I recall running down the stairs and ending up on the main road just outside Auckland cathedral where I worked and having to ring the police at that time. They brought dogs to track the offender through the night and because of the rain and the wet night they weren't able to track him.Following that period I had a really difficult period of time—a very difficult period of time. But what I'm also really clear about is that having a lock-up-and-throw-away-the-key approach does nothing to solve those issues. The man was just as scared to see me as I was to see him. He was probably looking for somewhere to shelter some food somewhere to get support.For me one of the things I bring to this House and that I spoke about in my maiden speech is my faith. For me when I consider people who enact a crime of that nature—and if he'd been caught he probably would have faced a very serious penalty.But that's not what I want for that man. What I want for that man—and for all people who are faced with these situations—is a warm dry home a decent job a whānau and friends who love them the support to end addictions to drug and alcohol. These are the things that we need to be putting our time and energy into in this House.It's not about a sound bite for sound bite's sake. People who commit some of the most serious offences: they've often been victims themselves. So when we speak about a victim or a perpetrator scenario we can only support one side of a crime. We're not looking at the evidence. We're not looking at the reality and the totality of the person's life that has lead them to that place.So for me I look at this type of legislation around evidence; around my own lived experience but also around evidence. What we know is that the three-strikes legislation does nothing to deter people from committing crime. It does nothing to reduce the prison population. It does nothing to limit the impact of crime on victims. It achieves none of those things. It just achieves a meme a sound bite a short news story where people can feel good about themselves and beat their chests that Here we are we're doing something. We're being tough on crime."We need to be tough on the causes of crime. We need to be tough on inequality on poverty on poor housing on all of the things that lead to people being disconnected from society and being put into a place where the only way they know is to commit a crime. That's not what I want for this country. That's not what the Labour Party wants for this country and I'm so pleased that we are removing what has been a draconian and ill-thought through piece of law that does nothing to actually make our country a better place.I commend this bill to the House."