Hon Judith Collins Address to 2011 ACT Conference

Hon Judith Collins Address to 2011 ACT Conference; Barrycourt Accommodation and Event Centre, Parnell, Auckland; Saturday, March 12 2011.

ACT Leader Hon Rodney Hide, ACT Parliamentary team, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for that warm welcome. It is a pleasure to be with you here today.

All our thoughts are with the people of Japan this afternoon as they confront an unimaginable crisis.

As a nation that is, itself, coming to terms with a major catastrophe, we share their grief and their sorrow at this time of great loss and uncertainty.

When the earthquake struck Christchurch on 22 February, Japan was quick to offer help.

Their people were on the ground just days after the quake struck.

I'm sure that we will be there for them, in whatever capacity we can, in the difficult weeks and months ahead.

I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to the heroic men and women who have been working so incredibly hard in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake.

Over the past three weeks we have been in awe of the courage of our emergency services.

Time, and time again, they have put their own safety on the line to rescue others.

Many of the Police and emergency teams are, themselves, from Christchurch. Their homes have been damaged and their lives uprooted.

Yet every day they show up to work, to help others in need.

I think this speaks volumes about the sort of people who serve in our Police, Fire Service and Search and Rescue.

I met one firefighter who crawled into the Pyne Gould building in the hours after the quake to search for survivors.

He told me of crawling through tiny spaces with tonnes of unstable concrete balanced above him.

All around him the building was shifting, the floor sinking as the aftershocks hit.

He told me that he prepared himself for death with each jolt.

Several people in that building owe their lives to him and his colleagues.

What incredible courage.

I’m sure you will join me in acknowledging their feats in the rubble of Christchurch.

Without them this terrible disaster could have been so much worse.

I would also like to pay tribute to another group of people whose efforts following the quake have been an inspiration to us all.

I’m talking about the vast numbers of people, from all walks of life, from every town and city in the country, whose immediate response to the disaster was to help others.

Thousands pitched in with whatever they had – shovels, food, equipment or just their bare hands.

Thousands turned to their neighbours in need and offered food, support and comfort.

Thousands more organised car washes, cake stalls, raffles and collections to help the victims through this extremely difficult time.

Normally we don’t read about these people in the papers because they’re not the types who seek publicity.

And when they give so generously, they don’t seek thanks.

They do it because they care so deeply about their communities.

They care about the people that live over the fence, that live on their streets, who their kids visit after school, who coach sports on Saturdays.

This is why communities such as Christchurch are so strong and resilient in the face of incredible adversity.

These people are the heart of this country.

And, you know, when we hear so much about what is wrong, and the dark side of human nature in the news every day, it is wonderful to hear about what is good and decent.

Today, I would like to talk to you about the huge amount of work that this Government has done in the area of law and order.

In recent years many New Zealanders would have looked on in dismay as some of the values that underpin our good and decent society have been eroded.

This has certainly been the case with our criminal justice system.

When this Government came to office, there was a strong feeling in the community that the scales of justice were tilted too far in favour of the criminals, rather than their victims.

Victims felt that the cards were stacked in favour of the offender and that they were being revictimised by the system.

There was a strong feeling that dangerous criminals were being given a slap on the wrist and released into the community when it was known there is a high likelihood they would reoffend.

I believe one of the big changes that led to this situation has been a decline in individual responsibility.

Too many people believe that they are not responsible for their actions.

They believe that their actions are always somebody else’s fault – usually the government, Police or society in general.

Fleeing drivers is a good example.

Until recently, it was common to blame Police when a fleeing driver killed themselves or someone else.

The excuse was that if the Police hadn’t been chasing them, they wouldn’t have been forced to drive dangerous speeds.

But the Police are not to blame.

The driver who runs from Police is to blame.

They choose to run from Police.

To suggest otherwise is to say they are not responsible for their actions. They can choose to stop at any time.

If they had chosen to stop, many innocent people would be alive today.

Just as there has been a growing belief that criminals are not responsible for their actions, there has been a growing belief that criminals have certain rights.

These rights proliferated to the point where the lines became blurred between right and wrong, victimiser and victim, law breaker and law enforcer.

Criminals are quick to exploit their rights, which make their victims feel more powerless.

Criminals shouldn’t be able to play the system by electing jury trials for relatively minor crimes.

Criminals shouldn’t be able to hide behind legislation over submitting DNA samples that can help quickly resolve crimes and give victims closure.

Criminals, whose offending has taken away the rights of innocent people, shouldn’t have the right to vote while serving their sentence.

Criminals don’t have a right to smoke in prison, and possess lighters and matches that they can use to endanger Corrections staff.

I’m very pleased that steps have been taken, or are being taken, that go some way to addressing this imbalance.

We are fortunate the vast majority New Zealanders have not lost sight of the clear values on which our justice system should be based.

They have given us – both National and ACT - the responsibility of restoring those values, reducing crime, and sending a very strong signal that criminal offending won’t be tolerated.

During the past two years we have all taken that responsibility very seriously.

Law and order is one of the Government’s biggest priorities.

National has worked very closely with ACT on a range of new laws aimed at rebalancing the justice system and making our communities safer.

I would like to thank ACT, and in particular the Hon Rodney Hide, for its support, and acknowledge those who worked behind these scenes to make these initiatives possible.

Some policies have required our caucus to make compromises.

I know the same has been true of the ACT caucus.

But this is what coalition politics is all about.

That we are willing to engage, debate and find common ground in the pursuit of common goals, shows the strength of the relationship between our parties.

One of the best examples of what this partnership has achieved was the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill.

The legislation upheld the Government’s election promise to remove eligibility for parole for the worst repeat violent offenders, and incorporated significant aspects of ACT’s three strikes policy.

As at 28 February there were 229 offenders convicted and issued with their first strike.

They were for a range of serious offences.

• 31 were for indecent assault on a woman over 16.
• 23 were for aggravated robbery with a firearm.
• 9 were for indecent assault on a female under 12 year old.
• 20 were for indecent assault on a female aged 12 – 16.
• and 14 were for committing burglary with a weapon.

The first second strike warning was handed down just a few weeks ago for a 20-year-old man who admitted aggravated burglary.

The legislation has had its critics who argued that it breached the rights of offenders.

Well, I’m happy for victims to take precedence.

I understand that when repeat, violent offenders stay in jail it reduces their opportunity to reoffend and create more victims.

Some critics said Three Strikes was not fair on Maori because Maori would be disproportionately represented among those who receive longer sentences.

This argument is insulting to Maori.

This law is about criminality, not race.

One more thing we should remember:

A disproportionate number of victims of repeat, violent offending – particularly domestic violence - are Maori.

This law is about protecting them, and all victims of violent crime.

One of the biggest law and order issues facing this country is the spread of organised crime.

I’m sure you’ll be aware that in recent months one of Australia’s largest and most troublesome outlaw motorcycle gangs has been attempting to set up a franchise here in New Zealand.

Yesterday, Police and other agencies raided a gang in Nelson that was linked to the Hell's Angels.

Among the items seized was bomb making equipment.

It’s evidence that gangs are no longer groups of small-time thugs, but large criminal businesses with global connections and a willingness to use violence.

The game-changer has been methamphetamine.

The vast amounts of money to be made from the sale of this evil drug have bought gangs previously unheard-of wealth and influence.

The Police estimate that the combined profit from methamphetamine and cannabis sales alone is between $1.4 billion and $2.2 billion per year in New Zealand.

One of the biggest concerns is that when criminals gain access to large amounts of money it increases the possibility of corruption taking root.

Corruption undermines the rule of law, erodes the effectiveness of government regulations, strangles government revenues and contributes to a slowing of economic growth.

Left unchecked, criminal gangs would begin to exert significant influence over our institutions and way of life.

This simply can’t be allowed to happen.

This Government has made sure our law enforcement agencies are well equipped to deal with this threat.

ACT has been right on side, supporting changes have given Police new powers to intercept gang communications, take down gang fortresses and seize gang assets.

These changes are already starting to bite.

Last year a record 30.4kg of methamphetamine was seized by Police and Customs, up from 20.8kg in 2009.

That’s around $30 million that won’t find its way into the shadow economy run by organised crime.

As I mentioned earlier, gangs are now multi-national businesses.

They exist for the profits that can be made.

We are going after those profits.

Police have used their new powers to seize $37 million worth of assets from criminals – around $22 million of which was from people with known links to organised criminal groups.

The assets seized include cars, boats, heavy machinery, jewellery and property.

The strong message we are sending is that crime shouldn’t pay.

Another area where the Government has much in common with ACT is ensuring offenders do the time for their crime.

When I took over as minister of Corrections it quickly became apparent that the previous government had not invested enough in prison capacity.

We faced the prospect of a serious capacity crisis.

It was unacceptable to us that prisoners be released back into the community without serving the appropriate sentence.

We didn’t want prisoners being driven around in vans until beds became available – as happened under the last government.

And we didn’t want judges to feel constrained in their ability to sentence lawbreakers to custodial terms.

To address the short-term shortage, we have double bunked almost 900 additional prison cells across our four newest prisons.

Increased use of double bunking has given us the capacity to make extra prison beds available in emergency situations, such as the recent Christchurch earthquake.

Of course, there were plenty of people who felt prisoners shouldn’t be inconvenienced by having to share a cell.

They said it breached their rights.

We disagreed.

Offenders must take responsibility for their actions.

When they commit a crime, they forego some of their rights.

We will also be banning smoking in our prisons from July 1, which will make our prisons healthier and safer.

People said this breached prisoners’ rights too.

I don’t see why our Corrections Officers should be the only New Zealanders required to work in a smoke-filled environment.

If people want to smoke, they shouldn’t commit crime.

To cope with forecast prisoner numbers we also introduced shipping container cells at Rimutaka which were built in half the time and at roughly a third the cost of traditional cell construction.

The usual apologists for criminals said that this was inhumane and talked of container cell slums.

The container cell block has turned out to be some of the best accommodation we have and is proving to be very popular with prisoners.

We are also planning a new men’s prison at Wiri in South Auckland.

That prison will be the first in New Zealand to be financed, designed and built under a public-private partnership arrangement.

The last Labour Government changed the Corrections Act to prohibit private management of our prisons on purely ideological grounds.

They overlooked the fact that when ACRP was under private management in the early 2000s, it was a resounding success.

Currently, it costs around $91,000 to keep a prisoner behind bars for a year.

We believe we owe it to taxpayers to find ways to lower this cost.

Greater involvement of the private sector not only has the potential to deliver more efficient prisons, but also prisons that are safer and have new, innovative approaches to the rehabilitation of prisoners.

ACT was fully supportive as we changed the law to allow greater private sector involvement.

Already a contract to return Mt Eden-ACRP to private management has been awarded to Serco, a company with a strong track record of managing custodial facilities overseas.

This new facility opens at the end of the month and will be fully under private management by the end of August.

A tender process to select a consortium of overseas and local companies to build and manage the new prison at Wiri is also under way and progressing well.

Both National and ACT have faced a lot of criticism for their tough on crime approach.

This is what happens when you try to put the responsibility for crime back where it belongs – on the criminals.

Not the Government.

Not the Police.

Not the moon or the sun.

We are tough on crime, and we are unapologetic.

We are unapologetic because we know that setting clear boundaries and having clear consequences for criminal offending is effective.

Making excuses for offending only encourages more offending and creates more victims.

People who are committed to a good, decent society understand this.

Thank you again for inviting me to join you today.

And thank you for standing with us as we work to make New Zealand a better, safer place.

Enjoy the rest of your conference.

ENDS