Turei Metiria: Young Offenders (Serious Crimes) Bill — First Reading 
Turei Metiria: Young Offenders (Serious Crimes) Bill — First Reading 
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METIRIA TUREI (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party is opposing the Young Offenders (Serious Crimes) Bill. Although we recognise the importance of members’ bills and how difficult they are to get out of the ballot—let alone get to a select committee—the policy implications of the bill are so serious and so contrary to our principles and values that we simply cannot support it at all—even to go to a select committee. In our view the current law is working sufficiently well. It was good to hear Minister Burton set out what the current law is so that it is clear for those in the community that Ron Mark’s bill does not add any value at all to the current legal situation. All the bill does is impose even greater penalties on those who are least capable of understanding the importance of those penalties and least capable of extracting any value from increased punishment. 
The Greens are very disappointed to hear that Labour is supporting this bill because of the serious implications this has for children. Children like adults do very stupid very dangerous and sometimes very violent things. The reasons are complex and involve economic— 
Ron Mark 
: Like rape women! 
METIRIA TUREI 
: I take a great deal of offence at the use of those kinds of inflammatory comments because they detract from the fact that we are talking in this bill about children—about 12-year-olds. I urge members to think about their own 12-year-olds. We talk in this House about one particular 12-year-old Bailey Kurariki as some kind of horrifying “Chucky”—some evil little thing—who is roaming around the country doing heinous things. I urge members in this House to think about their own kids getting themselves into a situation at age 12—where they have no control and when they are around bigger kids—that they cannot get themselves out of. Members should realise that their kids or my kids could be subject to this kind of legislation—this kind of punishment—because they do not have the skills the experience the maturity and the judgment to figure their way out of it at age 12. That is what we are talking about here. 
A number of complex and serious implications and impacts surround the child especially one who is in the process of committing a crime. We talk about economic cultural and poverty issues that have huge impacts on adults in respect of criminal offending let alone children. Those are incredibly acute issues that need to be dealt with in a practical and reasonable way—not in a way that simply punishes and locks these kids away. We must not treat and punish children in the same way that we do adults. Children cannot be expected to exercise the same judgment common sense or restraint that we expect from adults. They have an inherent reduced capacity and they are at a particular reduced developmental stage that must be taken into account when dealing with them. We are talking here about 12-year-olds. I want to refer briefly to my own child who is 13— 
Ron Mark 
: Does she smoke dope? 
METIRIA TUREI 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I take extreme offence to Ron Mark making that kind of statement about my child. I seek an apology from him right now. 
Ron Mark 
: I withdraw and apologise if that comment has offended the member. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: Thank you. That is the end of the matter. The member has withdrawn and apologised. I do not want any more interjections from the cross benches. 
METIRIA TUREI 
: I will take a moment to feel a bit of parental pride and tell members that I think my daughter is a particularly bright and smart child and she is very very capable. Despite the fact that she is so fantastic there is no way that she could be expected to exercise the sufficient judgment and restraint that would be expected of adults if she got herself into a difficult situation. That is why she has parents and that is why I as a parent am legally responsible for her. She is in my care so that I can care for her and manage her through her developmental stages. 
The principle behind Ron Mark’s bill leads to the idea that somehow at 12 years old children do not need parenting and that they are at such a developmental capacity that they do not need to have adults around them to help guide them into the future. It is a bizarre concept and one that this House should disregard completely and entirely. We are completely opposed in the Green Party to the “three strikes and you’re out” approach. It completely fails to deter offenders anywhere in the world and one needs only to look at the US statistics to see that all it does is lead to even more imprisonment. We simply cannot allow that for our own children. 
We need more support for young offenders. We need more residential beds. There are only 126 residential beds and youth units in this country; there are twice that number in youth prison units. We simply need to have more resources put into children rather than locking them up and throwing away the key. 
This bill does nothing for victims and nothing for these young people. Ron Mark said in his speech: “Beyond here you go no further.” That actually means that that person is useless rubbish and to be discarded. The Greens will not support that evil principle.