Toni Severin
ACT Corrections spokesperson
ACT would abolish the prisoner reduction target, make rehabilitation compulsory to be eligible for parole and keep our successful the Three Strikes Law.
We need to be smart, not ideological when it comes to crime. Corrections number one goal should be to keep New Zealanders safe from dangerous offenders. With Kelvin Davis in charge of Corrections, we have lost our way.
Labour has a target to reduce the prison population by 30 per cent over 15 years. This is madness. The people who end up in New Zealand’s prison system are some of the worst offenders and we need to use our prison system to keep New Zealanders safe.
ACT opposes ideological targets which lead to people getting out of prison. All that does is put more risk on the communities that have already been victimised.
ACT would abolish the target.
We need to use our prisons to deliver real outcomes. When people are released, they need to be equipped with skills to pull themselves out of repeat offending.
That’s why I have also introduced a Member’s Bill that would make rehabilitation programmes compulsory prior to someone being granted parole to ensure they are getting the rehabilitation and skills they need.
We would also keep ACT’s Three Strikes policy which has kept the one per cent of New Zealand’s most violent and recidivist offenders behind bars when they’ve shown no signs of remorse or of wanting to be rehabilitated.
We need to use our prisons to ensure that we are keeping people safe. That means keeping bad people away for longer but also making sure that the people who leave prison have the skills to contribute back to society.”
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