Naive Leftist Politicians

Crime and Punishment

The new leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition is Simon Bridges.  He has been moving around New Zealand introducing himself to the country.  As part of "the tour" he visited his old secondary school, Rutherford College.

Here are some excerpts from his speech.

Because I will be asking for your vote in 2020, I believe you have the right to know who I am. You should know what drives me and what I stand for.  I grew up a Westie – one with a blended background.  My mum is Pakeha and Dad is Māori.  We lived near enough to here that I walked to school. As a family, we weren’t well off, but we never went without.  I am the youngest of six children. . . .  

Growing up, my parents instilled in me a strong sense of right and wrong.  Dad was a Baptist minister at the church around the corner from here, so as well as being a supportive family we were taught the value of serving the community.  . . .

But even those who have tough childhoods do not need to be defined or limited by that. All of us have the ability to better ourselves, and improve our lot in life.  That belief is part of what drew me to the National Party.  I am ambitious for New Zealanders.  I back New Zealanders to succeed on their own two feet.  I back enterprise, and I think that people who take a risk and do well, and those who work hard, and who contribute to their communities, should be celebrated.  I also have a fundamental belief in personal responsibility. You can take pride in doing well, but you should take responsibility if you do harm.

As I said, I studied law. First, in Auckland, then at Oxford University, in England. . . .  My career in the law led me to become a Crown prosecutor.  I was responsible for making the case to a judge or jury in court that someone was guilty and should go to jail.  Over time, I was in charge of hundreds of trials, sometimes dealing with the worst things one person can do to another.

Assaults, rapes and murders.  It was a role of huge contrasts. Many days I was depressed by the dark side of human behaviour.  But other times I was inspired by the resilience of victims, and sometimes by previous offenders who were gradually putting their lives back together.  One particular case will be with me forever.

Expected Demise of the Government

"If You Treat Us Nicely We Will Stop"

That did not take long.  The brand new Labour led New Zealand government has unsheathed a kukri knife and commenced the slow death of a thousand self-inflicted cuts.  Sometimes governments and elites risk become so enmeshed in their self-spun ideology that they depart from reality to another world.  And so, within a matter of months, it has come to pass in New Zealand.

The Minister of Justice is a fine fellow.  He has declared that the prison roll in New Zealand must be reduced.  This is to come about by a profoundly clever strategy.  He will shorten prison sentences, let more criminals out on bail, treat criminals nicely, and voila, crime will drop.  To naive, stupid Andrew Little, Minister of Justice the solution to overcrowded prisons is simple: treat people "kindly" and overnight they will become model citizens, who offend no more.  He has been encouraged to think along these lines by an (ostensible) chorus of elite academics who have assured him that his strategy will be a winner.

The Vexed Question of Bail

A Step Forward

Every so often the justice system in New Zealand takes small steps forward.  We welcome the announcement that in cases of domestic violence judges will be able to rule on whether to grant bail to an accused in the light of his or her previous criminal record.  Unfortunately this is just a pilot programme at this stage, operating only in Christchurch and Porirua.  Let's hope it is extended to the whole country.

A second unfortunate restriction is that it is being applied only in domestic violence cases.  However, it is a step in the right direction.

Positive Changes

Making Bail Laws More Reasonable

We have commented in recent weeks on small changes the New Zealand government is making for the better.  Most of these have focused on welfare beneficiaries, with authorities being more comprehensively demanding of beneficiaries that they find a job, lest their benefits get reduced.  Authorities are working in a more co-ordinated fashion to the same end.  It is making an impact upon beneficiary culture: the message, "you have to get a job" is sinking in.

Another incremental change has just been made--this time to bail laws.  It is going to be much harder for serious offenders to get bail. 

Bail has always been a bad idea made necessary because of overcrowding in remand prisons and because the justice system moves at a glacial pace.  The prospect of having an accused sit in jail for over two years waiting for a trial, at which he or she is subsequently found non-guilty is a manifest injustice.  Hence the device of letting accused folk out on bail to await trial.  "Innocent until proven guilty" is a fundamental principle of justice, after all.  But that application of that principle to criminals awaiting trial has been applied in such a way as to increase crime in New Zealand.

Sclerotic Incompetence

In Memory of Murray Wilkinson

The Justice system in New Zealand has some huge holes in it.  On the eighth of January, NZ police arrested an 18 year old man and charged him with the murder of an expat Kiwi, who had returned for his summer holidays to Waihi, together with his family.  It had all appearances at the time of a random, senseless murder.

For the victim, Murray Wilkinson and his family it still appears that way.  But now it emerges that the accused was, at the time, out on bail.  Once again we see the devastation that can arise when people arrested and bailed for serious criminal are allowed out on the streets, prior to their trials.  Lawyer and former politician, Stephen Franks documents some of the inanities and failings and blameshifting of our judicial system: