Bindra Mahesh: Electronic Monitoring of Offenders Legislation Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBindra Mahesh: Electronic Monitoring of Offenders Legislation Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 02 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4234. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MAHESH BINDRA (NZ First):I take pride in rising on behalf of New Zealand First to speak on this Electronic Monitoring of Offenders Legislation Bill. Like most other things this bill is not perfect. However it is a step in the right direction we think and we will provisionally at this stage support this bill provided there is enough done to remove the anomalies and ambiguities within this piece of legislation.This bill removes barriers to the electronic monitoring of offenders who firstly are released from a sentence of imprisonment of 2 years or less and secondly are sentenced to intensive supervision. What that actually means to us is that the courts will now have the ability to impose these electronic monitoring conditions on bailees and those offenders who are released from a sentence of 2 years or less.We like the intent of the bill but we do have some reservations about the way the final product will be delivered and whether the intent will actually be translated into outcomes that make our communities safer. Although we will support this bill at this stage we would like to have the ambiguity around administration removed and our questions answered during the select committee process.We suspect that not enough has been said about the victims of crimes. One basic question that comes to my mind now is whether there is a possibility that electronic monitoring will be used to free up prison beds and whether there is too much of a dependence on the electronic anklet which is far from perfect. There have been instances where the offender has tested the monitoring agency by setting the alarm off and then measuring its response time. It has also happened that the offender within that response time period—which is calculated by the offender by repeatedly testing the response of the responding agency—has committed offences and then gone back to the premises where they were meant to be earlier. Time and again it has been proved that the monitoring system is actually not foolproof. We can have all the technology and still fail. As I say iPads and iPhones do not prevent crime; good policemen and prison officers do.When it comes to the safety of our communities we cannot afford loopholes and a trial and error approach. Just recently the offender who is alleged to have been involved in the mindless callous murder of Ms Blessie Gotingco was said to be on some kind of electronically monitored release conditions. Although I cannot comment further on this horrendous offence clearly in this instance the system failed. The system failed in protecting Blessie and her family. The system failed in keeping our communities safer. Our concern is how far this bill actually goes in filling the holes and strengthening the related legislation which is the Sentencing Act the Parole Act and the bail conditions legislation.We will support this bill to the select committee provided the anomalies within this piece of legislation are addressed. We will not give a blank cheque like the support parties have been giving to the ruling party.