Robertson Grant: Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill — In Committee 
Robertson Grant: Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:10937] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 I wanted to take this call soon after the Minister of Corrections resumed her seat because Rodney Hide talked at the beginning of his speech about the things that have been shared in this Committee and I had talked about that in an earlier contribution in this debate. We all share the horrendous stories of victims of crime and many of us have worked with victims. Even in my short time as an MP I have done that. We also share concerns about reoffending. I can share that with Rodney Hide. 
But then I heard the Minister stand up and criticise members on this side of the Chamber as being people who had spent a lifetime defending criminals. It is very difficult to have respect for the Minister and for this legislation when she puts out statements like that. Mr Hide did not do that at the beginning of his statement and I give him credit for that. He talked about what was shared across this Chamber. But the Minister’s comment was disgraceful. She should be ashamed to sit there and make that kind of comment. 
Her smug performance this evening does nothing for the victims of crime. Her performance and the performance of the National Government this evening have done nothing to reassure New Zealanders that this bill is about public safety and not political slogans. We have heard nothing of substance from National members. I give credit to Mr Garrett in this debate. He has provided substantive contributions on why he believes in this bill. We have not heard that from the National members. 
I believe that part of the reason is that National members do not support this bill. I know that members of the National Government do not support this bill. Many of them do not support it because they know that the advice from people like the officials from the Ministry of Justice who are the main policy advisers on these matters goes against this bill. Ms Collins got up earlier and attempted to try to obfuscate about that and to say that the advice was not from the Department of Corrections or from the police. 
The comments that were read out in this Chamber were from the Government’s chief advisers on justice issues and they stated that the proposed policy changes were unlikely to be consistent with the Government’s publicly announced policy in relation to the drivers of crime. The Ministry of Justice view was: “… the deterrence effect of the three stage regime is uncertain. The proposals will add … costs … without creating any significantly improved outcomes in terms of reducing the drivers of crimes improving social outcomes or reducing reoffending and victimisation.” In other words the Ministry of Justice was saying that the bill will not work. 
In Part 2 we are looking at the parole aspects of the legislation. We have heard from the Minister a number of times that parole is not a right; it is a privilege. That is what the Parole Act states today. Nothing is changing. That is what the Parole Act states today. 
The Minister has made comments about where Labour was on this matter. Labour Governments toughened parole rules. The Minister does not want to acknowledge that because it suits her political sloganeering to say that we were not tough on parole but we were. Parole is not a right; it is a privilege. That does not change. If we want to improve the way that parole operates let us strengthen the Parole Board and let us look at the mandate of the Parole Board. These changes are not about suddenly changing parole from being a privilege to being a right. That is pure and simple spin. 
My main concern about parole and the taking away of parole is about the safety of our prison officers safety in prisons and the safety of our police. Without the hope of parole we risk further attacks on prison officers and on police. I have spoken to a number of people who have visited people in prisons. I have spent time visiting people in prisons as well. There is one thing that prisoners need in order to be able to behave well and that is hope. They have to have some hope. Prisoners have very little else. If they do not have hope their behaviour will deteriorate and we will see more attacks in our prisons. 
If we are really serious about this issue we need to look at the drivers of crime. We need to make sure that people are not getting into this position. Instead of that what we have seen from this Government is simple sloganeering and cheap shots from the Minister tonight rather than—[ 
Interruption 
] They were cheap shots I say to the Minister. I ask whether it is not a cheap shot to say that Labour members have spent a lifetime defending criminals. That is what the Minister said. That is a cheap shot. We deserve better in this Chamber. The laws that are coming forward as sloganeering— 
Sandra Goudie 
: Labour’s soft on crime. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Labour has a proud record of addressing the causes of crime and of strengthening laws on crime I say to Mrs Goudie but this bill is about simple sloganeering. It will not work.