Garth McVicar
I'm not surprised about the recent increase in crime statistics.
In fact, the increase was entirely predictable and easy to explain.
All that has really happened is the seeds that have been sown over many years have germinated and we are now harvesting the crop and paying the price.
The principal driver of crime has been the liberal mentality coming out of Wellington over recent years. Past and present Governments have been brainwashed by a bunch of bureaucrats and liberal minded advisers and lobbyists who have promoted the abolition of any resemblance of personal accountability and responsibility.
Kim Workman [Rethinking Crime and Punishment], Just Speak and a host of other so called experts have continually lobbied Government for more lenient justice policies.
These "theories" have been sold under the guise of creating a compassionate and caring society but in fact the result is the exact reverse.
It appears that even the Police Minister, Paula Bennett, has also been sucked in by their nonsense. The minister said she was concerned to see crime rising again after a 22 per cent drop between 2009 and 2014.
There was never a drop in crime, all that happened was the goal posts were shifted with the police and courts being instructed to use "alternative actions" such as diversion and "community" based sentences such as home detention and the like.
Sensible Sentencing said at the time that this liberal ideology would come back to bite us. Sadly that day is now upon us.
The recent proposal to increase the age of the Youth Court is yet another example of this crazy ideology that will also come back to haunt us in time.
The one area in which re-offending has reduced is the number of "strike" offenders graduating from first strike to second strike. Compared to the 5 years prior to Three Strikes taking effect, reoffending in this class of offender has plummeted over 60 per cent.
The evidence is clear and the solution is as simple as A-B-C-D.
All offenders, including juveniles, need Accountability, Boundaries, Consequences and Discipline, and until we get back to promoting and incentivising good parents with a vision of producing good law-abiding children, crime will continue to increase no matter how many band-aids are applied to try and repair the wound.
We know what made New Zealand great, and safe, and until a Government has the courage to revisit those values crime will continue to increase.
To make New Zealand safe again we need some good basic A-B-C-D, not some dreamed up theory and liberal ideology of reduced responsibility.
Garth McVicar is the founder of the Sensible Sentencing Trust and is a Hawke's Bay farmer.