Decisive Action Needed To Tackle Violent Crime

The increase in violent crime that has occurred over the past 12 months comes as no surprise given that the Government has so far failed to take any decisive steps to address a trend that has been evident for a generation, and which will take time to reverse, ACT New Zealand Justice Spokesman David Garrett said today.

"The law and order measures passed by this Government to date amount to nothing more than tinkering around the edges - making bail slightly harder to get, imposing an almost uncollectable $50 levy on convicted offenders, and promising to crush repeat boy racers' cars. None of this will reverse the trend," Mr Garret said.

"The legislation that will make a real difference - the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill - is still to be passed, and is the most significant law and order measure in the '100 days of Action' package the Government introduced to Parliament following the election.

"This Bill will give Judges the right to impose Life Without Parole (LWOP) for the worst cases of murder - even if a first offence - and, more importantly, introduces the ‘Three Strikes’ approach to repeat offending that ACT campaigned on during the last election.

"Once the Bill is in effect, the days of criminals amassing dozens of convictions for serious violent offences will be over.

"Although not a silver bullet in the effort to address violent crime, this Bill will be a move in the right direction. The next step will be addressing the drivers of crime - of which drug and alcohol abuse, and inter-generational welfare dependency have a major role.

"The Government needs to take decisive action to reverse our shocking violent crime statistics by passing the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill. Hopefully, one day it could become a law that falls redundant through disuse – although the Government's track record indicates that this is not likely to happen any time soon," Mr Garrett said.

ENDS

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