Mark Stephens, a convicted rapist called the Parnell Panther, took his place among the politicians and professors who addressed Act's welfare forum.
He told the delegates - mostly white, middle-aged and male - that his life was finally on track thanks to a man who believed in him, South Auckland socialworker Sam Chapman.
Mr Stephens told delegates he was not offering excuses for his offending but wanted to give an insight into his world; from the age of nine months to eight years he was beaten, kicked, bashed and starved, and at times resorted to eating dog food.
"That was my education. Getting kicked and beaten around and around and around," he said.
"From the age of 8 to 30 I was incarcerated in institutions around this country, from boys' homes to family homes, borstal to prisons.
"I learned how to read and write at 18. Read comics in a six-by-eight cell. That's where I educated myself."
Mr Stephens broke down as he told of being one of the last recipients of electro-convulsive therapy while in mental institutions such as Lake Alice and Porirua hospitals.
"From 8 to 30 I must have spent maybe ... 18 months outside in the world," he said.
"For the rest of it I was banged up because a system, a society, deemed that I was an animal."
But those years were behind him now; he had been out of jail for the past 12 years, been married to a lawyer for the past four and become a father again - his third child.
Mr Stephens served 7 1/2 years of a 12-year jail term imposed in 1985 for the rape of an Auckland woman. He also served a five-year concurrent sentence for the vicious beating of another woman.
One of those listening to Mr Stephens' emotional address was Garth McVicar, from the Sensible Sentencing Trust. He questioned the wisdom of Act - a party with the law and order slogan of zero tolerance - providing a platform for Mr Stephens but said it was good to get the complete picture.
