KEY POINTS:
The Government is defending its home detention policy against National Party complaints that 48 offenders absconded last year and five are still on the run.
National's corrections spokesman, Simon Power, told Parliament today that among those who "walked away" were a rapist, an arsonist, drug manufacturers and dealers, violent robbers and burglars.
Corrections Minister Phil Goff said home detention - an alternative sentence to imprisonment - had a 98 per cent compliance rate and a much lower rate of reconviction.
He said the absconders referred to by Mr Power were 48 out of 2500, judges decided when a non-custodial sentence was appropriate, and imprisonment was the only option for serious offenders who posed a significant risk to the public.
Mr Goff said prison sentences were much longer now than they had been under the previous National government, and the rate of imprisonment in New Zealand was much higher than it was in Australia, the UK and most European countries.
"It makes sense to keep the worst offenders in longer, which is what we're doing."
Mr Power wasn't satisfied, and issued a statement saying he was worried about the list of offences committed by home detainees who absconded last year.
"Is it worth saving a few prison beds to have these people loose on our streets?" he said.
"Many of them pose a risk to society and should not be left in a situation where they can reoffend relatively easily."
Mr Power said the Government had put its obsession with reducing the number of prison inmates ahead of public safety.
- NZPA
