Election 2023: Inform your vote. The problems in law and order and political parties’ justice and crime policies compared

The Herald’s political and specialist reporters examine the big issues facing New Zealand and how the main political parties plan to deal with them.

Law and order consistently ranks one of the top issues this election behind the cost of living, and though there is agreement on improving the system for victims, there is otherwise a sharp political divide.

Crime has been dominating headlines with record numbers of ram raids, high-profile tragedy involving home detention, Oranga Tamariki rooftop protests, and fighting at a youth justice facility.

The number of gang members - along with the number of gang members on home detention - has jumped by about 60 per cent since 2017, in part due to the open door for 501s exported from Australia, which has since been narrowed.

Crime statistics have been tumbling over the last 15 years, but have trended up in recent years including for theft (due in part to improved reporting mechanisms for retailers), and for violent crime (due in part to the introduction of new family harm offences).

Youth offences have also been increasing since 2021, including a spike in reported ram raids since late 2020.

The NZ Crime and Victims Survey, which includes unreported crime, shows per-capita crime has been steady over the last five years: almost seven out of 10 adults lived a crime-free life in 2022, but more incidents per person means repeat victims are experiencing more crime.

And for the year to June, Ministry of Justice statistics show a 10 per cent increase in the number of people convicted of serious or violent offences. This translates to about 750 more people convicted or serious crimes, and the same number for violent offence convictions.

There is broad political agreement that victims should be more empowered in the criminal justice process, and that criminals need to be held to account, as well as offered a chance to turn their lives around through rehabilitation.

The great political divide is generally over how punitive the system should be.

Where potential governing partners line up a paints better picture of what might happen in the law and order space, rather than looking at one party’s wishlist in isolation.

Both National and Act want harsher sentences by limiting how much of a discount judges can give. Part of that equation is cultural reports, which provide judges with background information about the offender that may be relevant to the offending, but in some cases might be a simple box-ticking exercise to get a lighter sentence.

Act wants to scrap them, while National wants to stop taxpayer funding, which has skyrocketed from a few thousand dollars a month in 2017 to as high as $850,000.

They also both want a return of Three Strikes, though National wants a more moderate version where a guilty plea can be taken into account. NZ First is likely to support the controversial law, having stopped Labour’s attempt to repeal it in the 2017-2020 term. NZ First also wants to rejig the Sentencing Act to put offenders’ needs behind those of the victim and community, though what there is little detail on what that would practically mean.

They also have a heavy focus on gangs; National wants a ban on public gang gatherings and enable an order preventing a gang member from associating with other gang members, while Act wants greater police powers to seize the assets of gang members found with illegal guns. NZ First wants a specific prison for gang members and for gangs to be designated as terrorist entities.

Potential disagreements include Act’s wish to scrap the gun register (which National supports as long as it’s working), and for moving 17-year-olds back into the adult criminal justice system (which National introduced when in Government, with Act’s support). National wants a change in dealing with serious young offenders, but by sending serious recividist offenders (aged 15 to 17) to boot camps.

National also wants all remand prisoners to be able to access rehabilitation programmes, while Act wants to require a minimum literacy standard before parole can be granted.

They both expect a rise in the prison population, with Act wanting to spend $1 billion for 500 more prison beds, while National wants the rules on electronically-monitored bail to be stricter, though it hasn’t released any detail on that beyond having it only for minor offences.

NZ First wants to fund 1000 more “corrections placements”, and for portability units constructed by prisoners. It also wants to remove community sentences and cultural reports for “violent offenders who are considered a threat to the community”. And it wants to introduce community mental health response units, though again there is no detail on what that is or how much it would cost.

The Greens and Te Pāti Māori are more vocal about a greater emphasis on intervention and rehabilitation rather than punishment, though Labour is generally not unsupportive of this.

“Prevention, protection and accountability,” is how Labour leader Chris Hipkins couched the party’s stance when he announced a series of youth justice policies.

Where Labour leans into the more punitive, it finds support from National. The Government’s bill to create a new ram raid offence - which would apply to 12 and 13-year-olds but is inconsistent with children’s rights - has National’s support.

Labour and New Zealand First agreed to deliver 1800 additional police, though hundreds of them do not have arresting powers, and now Labour wants 300 more police constables by 2028 at a cost of $124 million over four years. NZ First wants 500 more cops and twice as many youth aid officers, but has not released any costings.

Labour also wants a new criminal offence for stalking, and look into making it easier to seize vehicles - including without any conviction - to target gang convoys. It would also, rather vaguely, develop legislation to restrict gang leaders and how they recruit, communicate, and make money. So, how gang leaders do anything, really.

The deportation of so-called 501s from Australia has seen a sharp increase in gang membership and gang tensions in New Zealand. Photo / Dean Purcell

The Government had a focus on young offenders, announcing a new intensive intervention for the most serious and repeat offenders. It aims to bring together a number of government agencies for mentoring, alcohol/drug treatment, housing, education, mental health support, and cultural support.

It follows a similar wrap-around, multi-agency programme for tamariki aged 10-13 that has been working: so far 78 per cent of the 230 children involved had not reoffended.

The new programme was launched on a marae to emphasise the intention for a locally-delivered tikanga-based programme, which both the Greens and Te Pāti Māori want to see more of, and which justice reform advocates have been crying out for.

Te Pāti Māori wants to create a new Māori Justice Authority for a parallel Māori justice system based on tikanga and self-governance, with a view to abolish prisons by 2040. It also wants a Māori Legal Aid Services to invest in kaupapa Māori legal units within each community law centre.

The Greens also want more rehabilitation programmes (the Government has a bill to open up therapeutic programmes for remand prisoners), and an expansion of culturally-grounded specialist courts including Te Pae Oranga, and Rangatahi and Pasifika Courts - though there is no detail on how much and what it would cost.

The Greens and Te Pāti Māori support checks on police; the Greens want mandatory de-escalation training, while Te Pāti Māori wants a code of ethics and mandatory body cameras.

Derek Cheng is a senior journalist who started at the Herald in 2004. He has worked several stints in the press gallery team and is a former deputy political editor.