KEY POINTS:
Labour is telling Asian voters their communities will be safer from criminals under a Labour-led Government, and Corrections Minister Phil Goff is fronting meetings to say there is no need for tougher sentencing - because laws in New Zealand are already tough enough.
But after the murders of
three Asian people in the space of nine days this year, many in the community are finding the message hard to swallow.
Law and order is considered to be the biggest concern among Asian voters.
In July, a group of 15,000 marched in Botany to lobby Parliament for stronger laws and tougher sentencing - but Mr Goff said on Thursday at the Manukau Asian Forum that the laws were already tough enough.
"There is no evidence anywhere in the world that sentences actually stop or deter a person from committing crime," Mr Goff said.
"Under Labour, laws have already been toughened - and the proof of this is that our prison population has risen by 61 per cent, we have four new prisons in the last five years and we've got an increase in prison beds by two-and-a-half thousand."
Mr Goff also defended having underfloor heating in prisons, saying it was "widely considered ... to be the most efficient, most effective and least costly" form of heating.
At another meeting with about 50 Chinese business leaders in Ellerslie on Friday night, Mr Goff said there was also "statistical evidence" that crime was falling in NZ.
But Asian Anti-crime Group chairman Peter Low, who was at the Manukau meeting, accused Mr Goff of trying to use statistics to mislead Asian voters.
"People are getting murdered, robbed and, unlike 20 years ago, many are now afraid to walk in the streets at night, and he thinks he can change the story by showing some statistics," Mr Low said.
"Does the minister think we Asians are all fools?"
Housewife Jane Wong, who has had her handbag snatched three times - but did not report to the police - said the statistics would present a different picture if "people had more confidence in the police" and reported all crimes.
At the same meeting, Act's law and order spokesperson, David Garrett, also slammed Labour, saying it had "failed in its first duty, which is to protect the citizens of this country".
"We know there is a problem. Telling people that we don't have a problem is treating voters with contempt."
National MP Pansy Wong, New Zealand's only Chinese MP, also said she did not agree with the minister's statement that it was just a perception, and not fact, that crime was getting out of control.
"It is statistically true that violent crime has risen 47 per cent, and people are not feeling safe and are feeling helpless at reporting crime," she said.
"I have knocked on over 7000 doors in Botany and crime is the number one concern, and when it comes to Asians, they show an even greater anxiety."
