Hon. Matt Robson MP
Minister of Corrections
Minister for Courts

Deputy leader of the Progressive Coalition

July 14 2002

Robson calls for a multi party consensus on crime

Progressive Coalition deputy leader, Matt Robson wants political parties to sit down and agree on strategies to fight crime.

“New Zealanders are fed up with the bickering and endless point scoring over crime. The issue is too important. People want politicians to sit down and work together,” says Matt Robson

“I’m not interested in what sounds ‘soft’ or ‘tough’, or what looks good on a billboard – I just want what works.

“Tonight’s TVNZ law and order debate showed that most parliamentary parties support longer sentences for violent offenders, early intervention with kids in trouble and victim-focused justice.

“Let’s stop playing politics. We have enough areas of agreement to sit around table and sort this out.

“I’m offering to set up a multi-party forum where we leave the politics at the door and hammer out a sensible strategy to deal with crime, either now or after the election.

“The Clark-Anderton government has increased sentences for violent offenders. I’m building four new prisons as a consequence of that.

“But the debate must move on. It’s become bogged down in slogans and mud-slinging.

“I want those of us who will be in the next parliament to get together to find a common strategy - to stop the next generation of offenders graduating into prison, to make our communities safer and to get guns out the hands of teenagers,” says Matt Robson.

Ends

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