United Future has signed off on a tough law-and-order policy that includes voluntary chemical castration for sex offenders as a precondition of parole. Last week's two-day caucus retreat ended with approval for policies, including a virtually unchanged law-and-order policy from a draft proposed late last year by MP Marc Alexander.
He refused to confirm if the policy had been approved unchanged, but it is understood the policy to be released within the next few months will be virtually the same as a discussion document he wrote late last year.
In it he proposed not only voluntary chemical castration but life imprisonment for "heinous" crimes, making drug dealers accomplices to crimes committed by those they supply, and lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12.
Mr Alexander admitted this month there was an "awful lot of controversial stuff" in the draft that would get civil libertarians "hopping mad".
Party leader Peter Dunne refused last week to be drawn on what the law-and-order policy would contain.
"I'm not going to comment on the detail of the policy until we officially announce it."
Other policies United Future approved were on education and health.
MPs also made progress on what Mr Dunne described as an "innovative and radical tax policy" that would benefit all income-earners.
Mr Dunne said the health and education policies would feature greater use of private-public partnerships.
He said the party's policies would be released over the next few months.
"We have come up with a mix that's going to be good for families in terms of their family security, their domestic security and their financial security."
United Future has eight MPs, although the way it is polling at present, about half that number would be returned in this year's election.
