Brewer CameronCAMERON BREWER (National—Upper Harbour): Madam Speaker thank you. I too want to join my parliamentary colleagues. I haven't had a chance to acknowledge the passing of Efeso Collins our parliamentary colleague and him being laid to rest with great honour and dignity in Manukau today. I'm very proud that the National Party sent a significant delegation led by the Prime Minister with our Pacific Island affairs Minister Dr Shane Reti and Tama Potaka Greg Fleming Nancy Lu Dr Carlos Cheung and of course the Speaker and the many many other friends and colleagues across the other side of the House that attended today. Efeso was someone who had that unique ability both as a person and as a politician to walk so well in so many worlds. That is not easily achieved and he did it with such good grace and with that big wide smile. So we're all thinking and praying for his family and friends today. I just remember how well he articulated for his community in South Auckland in Ōtara-Papatoetoe when he used to front up to the Auckland Council as the local board chair as a younger version of Efeso and we used to think Wow this guy's got such a future. Who is he?"—both articulate and eloquent and passionate for the change that was required in his community. So I just wanted to remember Efeso and the great contribution he made and the big loss that he leaves the Auckland community and in fact New Zealand.I stand in support of the Parole (Mandatory Completion of Rehabilitative Programmes) Amendment Bill first reading. I want to acknowledge its sponsor Todd Stephenson. This of course from memory has been an ACT Party position for some time and of course Todd goes back to the days—despite his youthful appearance—of the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers just about when I was getting around with a certain leader and he was getting around with a certain party president.Hon Scott Simpson: Surely he's not that old.CAMERON BREWER: So he finally gets the chance—Scott Simpson—20 or 25 years later to put this piece of legislation to the House and he's done such a great explanatory effort in taking us through the many parts and complexities of this bill.Just to reiterate its purpose the policy objective of this bill is to provide a requirement for individuals in a corrections facility to complete skills and rehabilitation programmes prior to being considered for parole. As has been indicated before it would create a real incentive for people in a corrections facility to participate in practical educational and rehabilitation programmes to be better equipped with the skills to lead a much more productive and positive life upon release.This certainly sits alongside and comfortably with the coalition Government's justice and restoring law and order policies which are of course such a big key part of our 100-day plan. Justice and law and order make up a number of those 49 points that are in our law and order policies in the 100-day plan.And if I can just take you through because there is an association here and it gives the public—the viewing public and listening public today—some context of how this could sit quite nicely with the suite of work that we're already doing in the world in and around justice. If you look at what was launched at the weekend by Minister Mitchell: "Masher Mitchell" as they call him now—not "Crusher Collins" but "Masher Mitchell"—and Goldie colloquially known as the Hon Paul Goldsmith introduced legislation to ban gang patches. And hasn't that gone down so well to stop gang members gathering in public and to stop known gang offenders from communicating with each other? There has been some issue today raised that perhaps it wasn't successful in Western Australia but Police Commissioner Coster told the Justice Committee that the Western Australia example was working a treat and they are going to do their best to emulate it.Hon Ginny Andersen: He did not.CAMERON BREWER: He certainly did say that. We've got the Hansard Ginny Andersen; I'll tell them about the success that the Western Australia model has had. I will send you the Hansard.Giving police greater powers of course is also part of that—to search gang members for firearms. To stop taxpayer funding is also part of the suite of policies that this coalition the Government is putting together on section 27 of the cultural reports. To introduce legislation to crack down—DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member started off well in referencing back to the bill. Can you just—CAMERON BREWER: Well I'm trying to give this some context Madam Speaker. It's very difficult because I can't just give this a passing sway because there's so much to get through. To give it context as to the—DEPUTY SPEAKER: That's fine but just link it back to the bill every now and again.CAMERON BREWER: Well yes and the bill is part of this but it's just—Hon Grant Robertson: The old trick. Just start reading it out Cameron.CAMERON BREWER: Mr Robertson it's just such a big programme the law and order programme to get through that it's hard to stay on the bill when we're trying to give it context with so much there.Prison rehabilitation—Hon Scott Simpson: Back on track.CAMERON BREWER: Prison rehabilitation programmes Mr Simpson play a critical role of course as Mr Stephenson has already said in reducing reoffending rates. And rather than branding prisons as the "University of Crime" and focusing on reducing the prison population regardless of how much crime is happening this Government this coalition Government is confronting the real reasons behind crime and looking at rehabilitation as a key part of our success of overcoming repeated crime.The programmes at least are essential—rehabilitation programmes as this bill looks at as far as for those that are going to be eligible for parole—for reducing the reoffending as has been said by the sponsoring member Todd Stephenson and key to breaking out of vicious cycles of criminal behaviour. And that's certainly what this Government will deliver.We are not interested in reducing the prison population by 30 percent; that's another action point that's been delivered. We're getting rid of that ridiculous goal. And as the Minister of Justice presented today his focus in the next few weeks and months is addressing the increasing violent crime in particular; in youth crime getting on top of that; and of course the widespread delays in the court system.So this bill of providing a requirement for individuals in a corrections facility to complete skills and rehabilitation programmes before being considered for parole is part of that suite. And the Opposition might not like to hear such a comprehensive—such a strategic—justice law and order suite of ideas that are collectively going to add up to something—Mark Cameron: We've come full circle. Let's talk about the bill.CAMERON BREWER: —not just the press statements and the big announcements from the Beehive theatrette Mark Cameron that we heard for six years. But stuff like this is going to make a difference Mr Stephenson. Looking at the main provisions of the bill the clanger I suppose is clause 5 which inserts new section 24A in the principal Act to require that an offender who has not completed a programme indicated in their management plan under section 51 of the Corrections Act 2004 must not be considered for parole. It's as black and white as that and that's the ACT Party for you—black and white. Instead the Parole Board must set a new date by which the offender must be considered for parole which must not be more than 12 months after the date that they were due to be considered for parole in order to provide time for the offender to compete the relevant programme.Hon Grant Robertson: Keep going. Skip the big words. Just do one more clause and then he will have filled it up.CAMERON BREWER: And so Mr Robertson wants me to keep going for 40 seconds and I never thought in my wildest dreams that he'd ask me to speak for another 40 seconds. I've got 34 seconds now and we could go on. We could go on about fiscal cliffs and all sorts of unrelated things. We could go on about the crisis in the health sector and the crisis in the education sector that he left us and the economic fiscal cliffs and everything else but we won't; we'll get back to the bill. I want to finish as I began. I pay tribute to member Stephenson for bringing this to the House. And it's a suite of policies that we're so proud of."