New Zealanders are demanding that the Government crack down on violent criminals, but instead it's insulted them with the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill, says National's Justice spokesperson, Wayne Mapp.

"The Government has completely failed to listen to submissions on the Bill which explicitly asked for real action against violent criminals.

"New Zealanders have a right to feel cheated. They're sick of the cost and pain of violent crime - look at the 92 percent support for the Norm Withers referendum. Instead, after two years' effort, the Government has delivered a damp squib.

"National has listened to the submissions and acted. We guarantee that life will mean life for the worst murderers and that serious violent offenders, like rapists, armed robbers and those who commit vicious assaults, will not get parole before two-thirds of their sentence has been served.

"We guarantee that punishment will be an explicit part of sentencing policy, that victims will have a bigger say in sentencing and parole, and that there will be more accountability for community sentences.

"There's no credibility in Labour's claim that more violent offenders will be in jail. The Ministry of Justice did not, and could not, show why the Bill will result in more offenders in jail.

"The Prime Minister failed miserably when she appointed Mr Goff as both Justice Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister. He would sooner solve the world's problems than face the responsibility of combating violent crime in New Zealand," says Dr Mapp.

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