“The Labour Government turned its back on victims of serious crime when it repealed the Three Strikes legislation and ACT will bring it back,” says ACT’s Justice spokesperson Nicole McKee.

“Crime is out of control. As ACT has travelled up and down the country listening to New Zealanders we’ve heard that people want to see consequences for criminals.

“Three Strikes was an ACT idea introduced in 2010 to send a signal to violent offenders that New Zealanders won’t tolerate repeated violent and sexual offending.

“The average Three Strikes offender had 75 convictions. Just 24 people were sentenced to a Third Strike. The total number of people sentenced to a first, second or third strike accounted for just one percent of the people sentenced in our courts. They were the worst of the worst. These offenders leave behind a long list of victims, some who will never fully recover from the trauma.

“There were no petty criminals being charged under the law, it applied to the worst of the worst and made our communities safer.

“Labour has been single-minded in their drive to get rid of it though, along the way they’ve forgotten about the victims of serious crime. It’s no wonder criminals have become so brazen when the government sends a signal that criminals won’t be punished.

“This is a failure from out of touch student politicians whose idea of sound policy involves rainbows, unicorns and good intentions, but fails to deal with the reality New Zealanders face living in fear of criminals Labour just let off lightly.

“Thankfully, Kiwis won’t have to wait long for this law to be back in place. ACT is committed to reinstating Three Strikes as part of our plan for the first 100 days of Government. We hear ya.”

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