Field Taito Phillip: Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Bill — Third Reading 
Field Taito Phillip: Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:617;Page:12786] 
Hon TAITO PHILLIP FIELD (Associate Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I am very happy to contribute to the debate on the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Bill. It will bring New Zealand up to date with a lot of other countries similar to ourselves like Canada and the United Kingdom and with states in Australia like Western Australia the Northern Territory Queensland and New South Wales which have acknowledged the need to remove from records after 7 years some of the minor non-custodial offences that people have committed. It is estimated that up to half a million New Zealanders are affected by having some minor offence committed in their past on their record and they would gain some relief as a result of this bill being passed. 
My colleague Jill Pettis covered some examples of why it is necessary for us to consider this move. It is only fair that some people who committed an offence when they were very young—some as young as 10 or 12 years of age or in their teenage years—and have a conviction for a minor offence should have that conviction removed from their record after many years if they have not offended again. I think it is a compassionate move to acknowledge that people who have paid for an offence who have paid the penalty should be forgiven for that offence and have it wiped from their record. I think it should be forgotten because those people have become good citizens and have not reoffended. 
I do not think that some of the criticism from the other side of the House in relation to the Government being soft on crime stands up to scrutiny given that this type of legislation has already been implemented quite successfully in so many other countries with legislation comparable to the sort that we expect in this country. 
The reality is the bill is fairly conservative in the conditions it sets. The qualifying threshold of non-custodial sentences is high. Most countries with clean slate legislation include convictions with penalties of up to 6 months’ jail. Exclusions have been put in place. The non-custodial threshold means that no serious or recidivist offender will be eligible. The threshold is a clear line of eligibility that is easily understood. The 7-year qualifying period is based on statistical evidence that shows that people with minor convictions who have not reoffended after 7 years are no more likely to reoffend than those without convictions. This is clearly a common-sense approach to this issue. 
I have had people come to my electorate office who had committed an offence many years ago and who because of that suffer discrimination when it comes to employment and other issues in their lives. They feel it is only fair that after so many years the conviction should be removed from their record. I believe that the Minister of Justice the Hon Phil Goff has received many letters from the community—even some from grandmothers who have said that after 40-odd years some minor offences are still on their record. There was one instance of a grandmother who offended when she was 15 and although she offended as a minor she feels branded as a criminal today. That is the compassion we are talking about. We need to consider the reality that such people are good law-abiding citizens today and something that happened many years ago should be removed from their record. 
Murray Smith 
: It doesn’t remove it. 
Hon TAITO PHILLIP FIELD 
: Well the points have been made. We know that for various reasons the police would hold on to records in certain cases so I agree with the member’s interjection in that regard. I think the important thing in particular is that where an offence is not considered serious enough to warrant a jail term that situation warrants the record of people who committed such an offence being made a clean slate. I think this legislation meets that and the fact that other countries have adopted such legislation verifies and justifies this bill being introduced at this time.