Hon Anne Tolley
Minister of Corrections

21 March 2013

Corrections Bill passes second reading

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley says the Administration of Community Sentences and Orders Bill has passed its second reading in Parliament.

The Bill amends the Bail Act 2000, Parole Act 2002 and Sentencing Act 2002 to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Corrections sentences and orders in the community.

It also introduces a number of policy changes and provides clarification for aspects of home detention, community-based sentences and electronic monitoring.

“This Bill fits perfectly within the National-led Government’s plan to build a safer New Zealand and deliver better public services,” says Mrs Tolley.

“It will improve public safety by closing some existing loopholes, ensuring that offenders in community-based sentences and home detention have to complete their full sentences.

“Currently, a home detention sentence is suspended when an offender lodges an appeal against their sentence. This Bill will see the home detention sentence continue to run unless bail is granted.

“There will also be a law change to hold offenders to account when they abscond from community-based sentences. Corrections will now be able to apply for a suspension of the sentence until the offender is located, to ensure they serve the full sentence.

“The Bill contains many administrative changes, alongside amendments made by the Law and Order Select Committee, and I thank the members for their careful consideration.”

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

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