Ideas originally from the previous Labour Government are also housed in the proposed legislation, expected to be read in Parliament this week. Those powers would allow judges to consider it an aggravating factor if offenders helped young people offend or glorified criminal activity online.
The changes to sentencing formed part of the coalition Government’s strategy to reduce levels of violent crime as one of nine public sector targets it hopes to achieve before 2030.
The first quarterly report on the progress of those targets was released yesterday, showing targets concerning violent crime and academic achievement were deemed “at risk” of not being achieved, but Prime Minister Christopher Luxon maintains the report’s findings are within his expectations.
Luxon and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith fronted yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference to discuss the sentencing changes and the public service target report.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith claims the sentencing changes will help the Government. Photo / Ben Dickens
Many of the proposed sentencing changes were announced in late June and canvassed capping the sentence discounts judges could apply at 40% and preventing repeat discounts for youth and remorse.
Other measures included:
– Introducing a new aggravating factor that would apply when offences were committed against “sole charge workers” like dairy staff and those whose home and business were connected.
– Encouraging the use of cumulative sentencing for offences committed while on bail, in custody, or on parole.
– Implementing a sliding scale for early guilty pleas with a maximum sentence discount of 25%, reducing to a maximum of 5% for a guilty plea entered during the trial.
– Amending the principles of sentencing to include the requirement to take into account any information provided to the court about victims’ interests.
The legislation would also propose aggravating factors for adults who encouraged young people to commit crimes and those who livestreamed or posted videos of criminal activity online.
The same powers were proposed by Labour when it was in government in its attempt to address the then spike in ram raids and online activity fuelling their frequency.
Goldsmith conceded the powers were “reasonable ideas” from Labour but also claimed they came after six years of failed policy.
Asked about the impact on the prison population, Goldsmith said it was expected to increase by between 1400-1700 per year after 10 years.
The potential cost of the increase was up to $190 million. Luxon claimed that cost had been accounted for in Corrections’ budget but said the Government would commit further funding if needed.
Goldsmith argued the sentencing changes were necessary because public confidence in the judicial system had “diminished”.
“These changes will help ensure there are 20,000 fewer victims of violent crime by 2029, alongside reducing serious repeat youth offending by 15%.”
The Government’s likelihood of achieving that violent crime target was questioned yesterday, with the first quarterly report on the progress of all nine public sector targets released.
In a week when Luxon was set to focus on law and order, his target to reduce the number of people experiencing assault, robbery or sexual assualt by 20,000 had gone in the other direction – increasing by almost 30,000 as of June.
Luxon said that was of “particular concern” and claimed it was due to the previous Labour Government’s actions that “emboldened offenders” and “created a crime wave”.
The data was collected through the New Zealand Crime and Victims’ Survey. Its latest survey captured violent crime experienced between July 2022 and June this year.
As of June, 214,737 people had experienced violent crime. The Government’s target was 165,000.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins believed the Government wasn't addressing the roots of crime. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The report, compiled by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet [DPMC], classified the target as “at risk” of not being achieved.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the Government was “stringing a bunch of bogus bumper sticker slogans together” and were “all over the show” with their crime policies.
”Some of the ideas that they were presenting as their own today actually arise from work that was undertaken by the previous Government, for example around cracking down adults who were using young people effectively to commission offended,” Hipkins said.
“Ultimately, I think they still haven’t answered the more fundamental question, which is if putting more people in prison is a recipe for less crime, why is it we have one of the highest imprisonment rates in the OECD but we’re dealing with more crime?”
The same “at risk” classification was also given to the target of getting 80% of Year 8 students at or above their expected curriculum level in reading, writing and maths.
The latest data from Term 4 last year, also the target’s baseline, showed just 22% of students were at curriculum in maths and 47% in reading.
The likelihood of having 75% fewer households in emergency housing was considered probable, with about 1000 fewer households since the target was established.
There had been a small improvement in emergency department (ED) wait times with 70% of patients admitted or discharged within six hours – up from 68% but well short of the 95% target.
Wait times for elective treatment had worsened, with 56% of people waiting less than four months – down on the 62% baseline and heading away from its 95% target.
However, it was still considered feasible. The DPMC’s report noted the Government’s interventions in health, including the appointment of a commissioner at Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora and the intention to maximise private sector capacity.
There had been a slight uptick in youth crime, away from the 15% reduction target, but it was still deemed feasible to achieve.
An extra 6400 people had taken up the Jobseeker benefit since the target was set. The Government intended to reduce the overall number (140,000) by 50,000.
Luxon said the level of progress was within his expectations, accepting they were ambitious targets and would be challenging to achieve.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
