Labour ignores 19-year-old fines, reparation

The Government is ignoring hundreds of thousands of unpaid fines, some of which date back 19 years, says National’s Law & Order spokesman, Simon Power.

“Some of these numbers are plainly ridiculous. Some of these fines were imposed while the Berlin Wall was still intact and when Labour had a flat tax policy.”

He is releasing figures which show:

493,760 people owe fines that date back more than a year, including 73,077 that are more than 10 years old, and 7,000 that date back to 1987.

Some for over $100,000 date back to 1992.

More than 18,000 reparations to victims date back more than a year, including 2,300 over 10 years old, and 617 from the 1980s.

At least 16 offenders owe reparations to victims of more than $100,000 dating back to 1997.

284 victims are still owed money from 1987, in one case for $20,000.

“These figures are a disgrace,” says Mr Power.

“This isn’t just about the Government collecting fines, this is also money owed to the victims of crime, some of it dating back to the 1980s.

“How can justice be done when offenders are not paying for their crimes and victims cannot move on?

“Courts Minister Rick Barker claims his Government is ‘doing a very good job collecting fines’, that ‘no one gets off the hook’ and that they have ‘got tougher on people’, but the reality is quite obviously the opposite.

“If his department has neither the inclination nor the ability to chase down these ancient fines and reparations, I wonder if it is not time he seriously considered giving the job to private debt collection agencies.

“Labour have had seven long years to chase these defaulters. The Minister’s claim that no one gets off the hook under him is laughable.”

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