Jim Anderton
Speech Notes - Gangs and Organised Crime Bill

Mr Speaker,

If I could sum up this Bill with one sentence, it would be that the government has wildly raised expectations about dealing to violent crime in New Zealand.

The Opposition will support this Bill, but it is not the silver bullet National promised.

It will not significantly reduce violent crime in New Zealand as National has promised.

It will not make the huge dent in crime that National promised New Zealanders. The previous government was already promoting this legislation and we would have passed something similar - but we would not pretend as National does that this is all you need to do.

I have no trouble declaring that the major factors in crime should be on the wrong end of tough law.

Gangs are a cause of crime, so we should be tough with them.

And we should be tough on all the causes.

There is one factor linked to crime that this government won't even talk about.

There is one factor linked to sixty per cent of all people arrested.

What is that factor? Can the government members tell us? Can the government even say the word that is common to the majority of all crime in New Zealand?

It isn't gangs and it isn't P.

Both of those are serious threats and need to be dealt with. And if you are serious about them, you should logically be much more serious about a much more common cause of crime.

What is that common factor? It's alcohol.

Sixty percent of everyone arrested is under the influence of alcohol at the time they commit the offence for which they are arrested.

Sixty percent. No other factor comes close.

So, because this government won't even mention that alcohol is involved in most crime, it won't do anything about sixty percent of all offending.

If you pass this Bill before you have dealt with the low hanging fruit, before you have dealt with the biggest factor in crime of all - then you are not serious about crime. You are joking and your raised expectations will ultimately disappoint and be held up to ridicule.

The National Government made a big issue out of crime in Opposition.

I am not going to quickly forget their pledges to seriously reduce the rate of violent crime.

They promised they would get elected and put an immediate end to the kind of violent crime that terrorised shop keepers in South Auckland.

Remember those shopkeepers? Remember the Indian community terrorised by attacks in those neighbourhoods?

How much neighbourhood crime is linked to the sudden proliferation of liquor outlets? How much is linked to the low drinking age that lets teenagers buy as much alcohol as they want on nearly every corner?

Will this Bill tackle that? No. Alcohol abuse is not even mentioned in it.

The government made the promises. The Government promised to significantly reduce violent crime.

Having raised expectations, this government is now accountable if it doesn't deliver.

The government should not be culpable for violent crime. But the Government made it that way.

The government promised the New Zealand public it could make a difference.

Here is item number four on National's Blueprint for change in August last year:

"National knows New Zealanders are sick of worrying about the surging levels of violent crime in this country. We are not going to put up with it. So National will launch a full-frontal attack on gangs and the "P" trade they support."

Ok, so they are passing the law they said they would. Good on them - but now the acid is on Simon Power. The acid is on John Key: This is National's full frontal attack on gangs and the P trade, and if it doesn't deal effectively to the surging levels of crime National knows New Zealanders are sick of - then National is accountable.

Mr Key said it over and over again. He said it on stages, and he said it in tv debates - he said the major problem is gangs, because gangs make P, and P is the major cause of crime. So he said, when this government took office, it would pass this Bill, and violent crime would be significantly reduced.

I hope he's right.

I hope this Bill really does make a huge difference, and that is why I'm voting for it, and it's why the Opposition is voting for it.

We absolutely want this Bill to be successful.

But actually, I am not naive enough to make the promise Mr Key made, and National candidates made up and down the country - that they would significantly reduce crime.

Here is what Mr Key said in his speech on 29 January last year:

"Violent youth crime is at an all-time high. Robbery is up. Grievous assaults are up. Aggravated robbery is up. Young criminals are graduating from petty crime to more serious crime; unexploded time-bombs on a fast-track to Paremoremo."

So is this Bill going to make a major difference to that?

I hope so. But don't hold your breath. Mr Key wildly overpromised and now National is under-delivering.

Can I ask the government members here in the chamber - will violent crime be significantly reduced as of the date of the passing of this Bill?

Will that be virtually the end of it in the headlines?

Are they confident now they have fixed crime?

Or do they still want to tell New Zealanders they will significantly reduce violent crime as they promised. I wish they would. I wish this Bill had that effect.

But every violent crime from now on shows the failure of the key promise of this government - that they could stamp out violent crime by targetting gangs -- raised expectations far beyond what they can deliver and thus failed the communities they have promised to protect.

ENDS

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