Hudson Brett: Parole Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHudson Brett: Parole Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 24 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1874. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BRETT HUDSON (National): It is an absolute delight to speak to this bill for more than one reason. One because it is a very sensible and pragmatic bill that will help to place victims at the heart of the justice system which is a key priority for this Government. Also because there is broad support or there appears to be broad support for this bill across the House. Thirdly because we all seem to think that it is the same provisions of the bill that are so positive for victims and also offenders in fact.If we look for instance at reducing the number of unnecessary parole hearings by permitting Parole Boards to extend the period between hearings from 1 to 2 years—or in the case of indeterminate sentences in fact from 3 to 5-year intervals—then that is obviously a positive thing not only for the victims who will perhaps not feel as revictimised as they might do under the existing conditions of having hearings each year but actually also for the offenders in some ways. You could argue that coming up to a Parole Board each year irrespective of what progress has or has not been made could actually lead to a situation where some inmates build up false hope of their real chances of being released at that point in time. So one can only imagine that when they are unsuccessful—the average is three hearings for each release so they most often are—they quite possibly leave those hearings feeling quite quashed and that in itself is not that good for rehabilitation. Although that is important let me not detract from the fact that the heart of this is actually ensuring that the victims feel they are placed at the forefront of our priorities.The other really positive thing that I saw in this bill is this idea of relevant activities. Although we might be putting in place something that is going to say to inmates that the interval between their hearings is going to be extended by taking into consideration at the board hearings these pre-determined if you will relevant activities and milestones there will in fact exist provision to bring those hearings forward. So an offender or an inmate who chooses to focus on the rehabilitation services and opportunities in front of them has the opportunity to bring forward the date when they will be considered again. That surely gives those inmates hope and a real sense they can have some control or some influence over their destiny and the time they will spend in prison. That I think is a very very important thing as well.There are another couple of considerations that I think are very positive and they actually return back to the victims too. It is extremely positive to see that victims will not only be notified of the first hearing date but actually be notified of when the next date is scheduled too so they will not be in any uncertainty. If there is an order given that it will be a 2-year time frame the victims have the same knowledge and certainty of that as in fact the inmate does and also of any milestone any relevant activity or activities that might change that and bring the date forward. That surely helps the victims of those original crimes to be able to better prepare themselves for those hearings when they are going to come up.Also a part which I think it is fair to say would probably have come as a bit of a surprise to most New Zealanders is that under the conditions as they exist today there is no provision for the Parole Board to be made automatically aware of civil protection orders that may exist. There is the ability for the board to request information. That information is then considered by a judge and the judge makes the determination of whether the board is made aware of the information at that time. These amendments will permit the boards to become automatically notified of it which surely leads to better consideration by the boards better judgments better decisions and ultimately better outcomes for the victim principally but as I have said earlier actually when you think about italso for the inmates.Overall what I can say about this is that we could talk about saving $700000 a year and that is always a good thing. We could talk about being very much focused on rehabilitation the introduction of casemanagement systems for all prisoners and the introduction of working prisons schemes across all of our prisons to help prepare inmates for their release. What I would like to conclude with is to say that this bill is putting the victim at the heart where they should be. It is a pragmatic and sensible bill which I commend to the House.