The Road Behind – the Road Ahead

Speech: Garth McVicar, Sensible Sentencing Trust
The Road Behind – the Road Ahead

I would like to thank the may people in the audience who have helped get Sensible Sentencing to where it is. It has been an amazing experience. As I say to people it is the worst paying job I have ever had – I don’t get paid – but it is the most rewarding!

To do something we are passionate about and help people is incredible – and I want to thank everyone who has made that possible!!

Sensible Sentencing Trust was established for 3 main reasons:

1) To spark public debate regarding escalating violent crime and contributing factors
2) To promote ideas to make society and New Zealand safer
3) To give victims a voice and bring a collective of like minded New Zealanders together to influence policy and social direction

From our perspective – and remember it was only a very small group of New Zealanders back then – it was the break down of the values / morals we were brought up with that was causing the escalation in violence.

The decision to focus on violent crime & victims – was not by accident – the level of violent crime – AND how we treat victims - is the best measuring stick for how functional – or in this case – dysfunctional – society has become.

Love us or hate us did not come into the equation – we had to get people off the fence – we had to get a debate going!

I must admit at being a little surprised at the pure venom that came our way!

I hadn’t realized this was a one horse race and those with opposing views like us were not welcome

Our naivety was our saviour!

So that is where Sensible Sentencing came from and we set about exposing the tragic journey of New Zealand.

From day one the organization struck a chord with New Zealanders and we were caught by surprise at the sheer numbers who agreed with what we were saying and wanted to become part of the collective movement

Sensible Sentencing is now a nationwide organization with supporters from one end of the country to the other – AND growing daily

Like us – MOST people could not understand how New Zealand could go from being the safest country in the Western World – to now being among the more violent

So what went wrong?

What are the drivers of crime? Legislation is the principle driver of crime!

OHP 1 The road behind – drivers of crime

We believe at the core of the problem is years of social engineering & Politically Correct policies that have gradually removed the boundaries for youth and any real and consistent consequences for crime

The compounded effect of this legislation was to remove the responsibility for crime – from the offender or their family – and put the blame on the wider community

Until we accept that legislation and social outcomes – crime – are like night and day – one follows the other – then violent crime will increase!

The role of legislation is to give direction – set boundaries – a line in the sand – steer the ship

All this [on the graph] led to what we now have – a criminal centred / offender friendly legal process – and it got a life of its own – like a wildfire out of control

But there were other factors coming into play

OHP 2: Anti prison movement

As violent crime and murder escalated the prison apologists said victims were in the wrong place at the wrong time – they did not – would not – accept some criminals were just plain BAD!

Prisons became correctional centers and were expected to rehabilitate all and sundry – alcoholics – drug addicts – mental health patients – social misfits – AND 60 year old dementia patients! Criminogenic needs of offenders became the catch-cry

Any one with half a BRAIN would have been able to see the theory would never work – we are expecting prisons to do the impossible!

The problem was legislation had sanctioned – if not created social demise

And now of course with violent crime and reoffending going through the roof our opponent’s say that PRISONS don’t work – that the prison population is shameful!

So prisons get the blame – not their policies!

We say our CRIME RATE is shameful – BUT – it was entirely predictable – prisons are simply bricks and mortar – there is no way a prison can either work or not work

Prison cannot be a one-stop-shop- for all our social ills – their primary purpose MUST be to protect the public from violent offenders – prison is a choice…

And it works PERFECTLY well to protect US from those who choose to go there!

Remember while all this was taking place the VICTIMS had NO voice – this was an anti-prison movement…..

It led to what we now have a criminal centred – offender friendly – legal process with an escalating violent crime rate that has taught criminals and their wannabie mates that the system does not mean what it says

Without an effective justice system – boundaries and consequences – we GET what we have now GOT

Not really rocket science – the system was designed to fail!!

But the prison apologist were buoyed by their success – and you can see by the graph they were successful – we started sending less & less people to prison – and they then started on the courts

Many of you will have seen the demise of our courts – the lack of respect – we saw it in the Michael Choy trial

Judges were ordered to remove their robes and head gear as it would be intimidating to the offenders!

All those involved in the brutal beating of Michael Choy had been in trouble with the law before – if ever there was a time that these young thugs needed to be intimidated – to be taught discipline and right from wrong – I would suggest it was right THEN. But the Court failed – we actually saw them throwing paper darts at each other – in COURT for goodness sake!

Rita – Michael’s mother – has so far attended 28 parole hearings – and counting – this whole criminal friendly process has not only killed Michael Choy and many others – it has destroyed any hope of a peaceful – enjoyable life for many here today – not to mention the destruction of public confidence

I mentioned prison apologists and our opponents – but who are they – where do they come from

The 19-99 law & order referendum was a warning that the public had had enough – the Govt. of the day said they would get tough on crime – AND the causes of crime

Every one thought at last – a govt is going to get tough on crime – BUT their response was the 2002 sentencing Act that instructed Judges to give the LEAST restrictive sentence – AND lowered Parole eligibility to 1/3rd - ! [use sentencing documents as evidence] and later basically INSTRUCTED Judges to grant Bail – even when the Police opposed it!

So they said one thing but did EXACTLY the opposite……WHY?

I got to know Phil Goff at about that time – I think he is a good guy – he wanted to do the right thing – BUT – he was dictated to by a plethora of academics, burearocrats and legislators!

A Minister in that Govt. told me that their legislation – YES THEIR – legislation was a dogs breakfast

It appears that “Yes Minister” is not a comedy here in Wellington – it is reality!

The tail is wagging the dog

The credibility of the system has been destroyed – but not only that – law students have been indoctrinated – brainwashed – by that ideology

The only way to counter this was to give the victims a voice – and I salute the courageous people who have been part of this journey – I know the toll on all of you has been punishing

Together we are learning what buttons to push and there has been some positive changes

OHP 3: Positive change

It appears the momentum is growing and the tide is turning

A senior Judge recently said that New Zealand’s justice system is in a TIME WARP…

And more recently a very courageous Judge here in New Zealand said he was frustrated at the lack of respect in our Courts – AND THE CONTRIBUTING FACTOR THAT WAS HAVING ON CRIME

An Australian Supreme Court Judge also recently said that victims were being re-traumatized by the Courts and that a change of “CULTURE” was required!

We realize we have many hurdles to overcome yet and the road ahead will be pretty bumpy – but my message to our opponents is – have a look in the mirror…

The corrupt ideology that has removed the boundaries and consequences for our young people has been a disaster

Compassion might have been the objective – but violent crime amongst youth is at an all time high – young people need boundaries – they need discipline – as adults we are failing in our duty if we don’t instill those values.

You may have been blinded by the moment – or the feel good factor – but in all reality only a fool would not have predicted the outcome

THAT SAID – WHERE TO NOW?

OHP 4: The road ahead

1) The current parole system is basically state funded terrorism – that is not an attack on Parole Board personal – they are servants of the law – they do what the law requires them do – BUT it is an attack on the legislators! Who in their right mind would design a system that puts victims like Rita & Ken through the trauma of 28 parole hearings? There has been positive reform but there needs to be more.
The first thing that needs to happen is:

A) Pre parole screening hearings – so that if the offender has no chance of getting parole the victim is not put through the agony

B) We are promoting a move to Judge given sentences with conditions and monitoring at the END of the sentence – offenders will be contracted to terms and conditions – immediate recall for ANY breach

2) Victims focused justice system – not some peripheral hanger-on to be treated like a door mat – why is it that the crime is deemed to be against the Crown? The victim is the one offended against – if public confidence is to be restored into a badly wounded system it is essential the victim does not feel alienated by that system.

3) Bail reform: Bail legislation is currently causing huge anxiety to victims families when a person accused of murder is granted Bail, and frustration to the Police when an offender is bailed – often against Police wishes – and just goes hard-out and commits more crime – they may as well – the bulk discount system – some call it concurrent sentencing – means they will effectively serve no additional sentence for crime committed while on Bail. Current Bail legislation underwrites – in my opinion encourages – that behaviour. The Police do not lightly oppose Bail – we think they should be listened to – and we should restock the Police tool box –give them the tools - to assist in their battle against crime.

4) Mental Health: The current mental health system is a dismal failure, many people in the audience today are here because of the failings of the mental health system. I want to acknowledge Henry and Louise Agnew – their daughter – Emma – was murdered recently and they suspected the mental health system may have had some responsibility for her death. They asked to see a report that had been prepard on the offender – this document – over 760 pages of it – explains why the are NOT allowed to see the report. The mental health system we believe is covering up murder – simply to protect their own butts – at what stage do we say the system is failing? After 20 murders or 100? I personally have a large number people on my data-base who say the system led to their loved ones death!

5) Youth offending: Is a blight on society – not to mention the lives destroyed – both victims and offenders – we are not big supporters of the Family Group Conference process – we want to see respect & discipline restored to our Courts and a further roll-out of the boot camp concept with a gradual introduction of compulsory National Service – surely it would be better to have young people going overseas as peace-keepers than rotting on the dole – or in prison

Sensible Sentencing has already achieved what many said was impossible but we approach a decade of operation, we are very mindful of the enormous social problems and hurdles that must be challenged if our objective of a safer society is to become a reality.

Some of the issues we want to instigate discussion on in the future will include:

1) Welfare Reform: Social welfare MUST be limited to a hand-up – NOT a hand-out – individuals must be encouraged by their parents, education & Justice system to achieve maximum potential – the current system means that we actually have generations that are being born in chains – AND dying in chains. I can ot imagine what it must be like to wake up in the morning with no motivation – but that is what welfare has done.
2) Sensible Sentencing offender data-base: I want to congratulate our web-master and his team – they do a fantastic job – all voluntary – but we think our offender data-base should be managed by a govt. dept. and be publicly available so that the safety of law abiding members of society is paramount – and not just lip service. A Sarah’s law to protect our women & children would be a good place to start.
3) Finally a back-to-basics approach: We know what works – we did it for the first 20 years of my life and New Zealand was the safest country in the western world. Get rid of this politically correct nonsense – a change of culture where boundaries, respect, discipline and consequences become the catch cry of the future. Some things are inter-generational – yes we have technology and yes we have play station – but if young people are taught the right values they will know right from wrong.

A good dose of PATRIOTISIM would not go astray – we need to reignite some passion – light the fire – why not fly the flag in schools and maybe do something really daring like sing the national anthem again

Mission Impossible – can’t be done?

OHP 5: Mission Statement:

We have been criticized for our focus on the sentencing issue but if the critics had taken the time to read our mission statement it was obvious what the strategy was – and where were going from day one – we never said we had all the answers – or that it would be easy – but there is now a total mood change happening – we have moved centre stage – what was socially unacceptable is now acceptable – that change of culture that we talked about is under way

Meantime we should NOT be ashamed of our prison population – it is a natural consequence of the disastrous social experiment – but it IS an indication we are starting to get our priorities right.

As I said it won’t be all plain sailing and there will be some bumps on the road ahead.

I recall Rita telling me that she made a vow TO Michael as he lay in his coffin to do all in her power to change the system that led to Michael’s death.

Rita I think you have kept your promise and I would like to thank you and all the courageous battlers out there who have made it all possible.

I salute you – one and all.

Thank you

OHP 6: Criminals Triumph.

ENDS