Dialogue: Sentencing rules will give protection to the public

The Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill will make the community's welfare the paramount concern when granting parole, writes Minister of Justice PHIL GOFF.

Last month a spate of murders shocked every New Zealander. The multiple murders of two children in Masterton and three people at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA captured most attention, but the eight other murders were just as tragic.

After a month like December, all of us ask what more can be done to respond to and address the causes of serious violent crime and murder.

The National Party decided the solutions lie in simplistic slogans and rhetoric. Bill English's vague promise of a life-means-life approach is all talk and no policy. Pushed for detail, he could not tell us how his new policy would work, or if it even had the full support of his caucus.

Of course, we have seen this all before. In 1990, National promised to ensure that maximum sentences reflected the true horror of crimes committed. However, despite murders hitting a record high of more than 70 in the second year of its nine years in government, it did nothing to ensure that those who committed the most horrendous murders received tougher sentences. Like many of the promises National made in the 1990 election, it broke that one, too.

In contrast, from day one this Government started work on policies that aim to reduce crime, support victims and protect the public from serious repeat offenders through tougher sentencing, parole and bail laws.

The Bail Act passed in 2000 made it harder for repeat offenders to get bail, while the Victims Rights Bill, now before Parliament, strengthens and extends victims' rights.

Last year I introduced the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill, which is before a select committee. It specifically provides tougher sentences for the worst acts of murder.

This is good legislation developed on sound and sensible advice and thorough consultation. It is a concrete response to the call by 92 per cent of New Zealanders in the referendum at the last election for tougher sentences. I am delivering on what I promised - tougher sentences for the worst criminals.

The number of murders each year has been dropping from that peak in 1992 and over the past few years has levelled off to about 50 a year. But we believe longer sentences are justified where the offender would constitute a risk to society if released, and also to show society's abhorrence of the crime.

Deterrence is not a major factor in imposing longer sentences. There is no real evidence that those committing serious crimes are deterred by harsh penalties.

In the United States, where life sentences sometimes are for the natural life of the offender and where the death penalty is still used, homicide rates are significantly higher than in New Zealand - six homicides for every 100,000 people, three times higher than the rate for each 100,000 in New Zealand.

One of the main provisions of the Sentencing and Parole Bill is to increase the 10-year non-parole provision for life sentences to 17 years' non-parole for those who commit the worst murders.

Seventeen years would be just a start. The actual non-parole period imposed by the court can be higher and sentences served may be much longer, if the Parole Board judges that the inmate still constitutes a threat once the non-parole period has ended.

Our courts have always had the option to impose tougher sentences, but because of a lack of clarity about when such sentences should be imposed, they have not always done so.

So, for the first time, this Government is setting guidelines that tell courts when longer prison terms for murder and other serious crimes must be considered.

In the case of murder, courts will have to impose the tougher 17-year non-parole period if certain aggravating factors are present in the case. Examples of such factors include murders in which there is more than one victim, and cases in which the murder is committed with extreme brutality or depravity, or where the victim was particularly vulnerable.

Under these new sentencing rules, a 23-year-old offender who commits a murder with any of the aggravating factors would be sentenced to life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. That means he would not even be considered for parole until he was 40 and is likely to remain in prison beyond that time.

The bill also provides, for the first time, that the Parole Board must make the protection of the community the paramount consideration in deciding whether to grant parole to an offender.

This will mean that the worst offenders who are still considered to be a danger to society stay behind bars and are not put back on the street.

Some will still say that our approach does not go far enough and that a life sentence should mean life. But while such an approach has superficial attraction, it has serious drawbacks which its promoters fail to address.

For example, American sentencing policy has meant the building of new prisons to cater for elderly prisoners who need special meals and specialist medical care. They even need lifts to cater for prisoners in wheelchairs.

The cost of such facilities is phenomenal, about $160,000 a prisoner a year, even though geriatric prisoners in wheelchairs present little threat to society.

Since elderly people do not pose as great a risk to the community as younger offenders, we have to weigh the cost of keeping a geriatric prisoner in prison for the rest of his life against whether the costs we incur in doing so could be better spent in other ways to protect the community.

Spending on better policing and more effective ways to keep people from turning to crime in the first place, such as by early intervention and dealing with youth crime, produce a better return for society.

Over the past two years the Government has made progress in addressing the public's concern over violent offending, but the work is not finished. The Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill will be passed this year.

Work on a crime- reduction strategy and a strategy to deal with youth offending is nearing completion.

The Government has listened to the public's concerns and is addressing serious violent crime in this country.