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 The senseless murders of Navtej Singh, Mrs Yin Ping Yang and Joanne Wang in South Auckland, and outbreaks of sickening gang violence, have shocked New Zealand.

 I would like to express my condolences to the victims' respective families. It is impossible to comprehend the brutal actions of the people responsible for these deaths.

Crime is a community concern and no level of crime is acceptable. What is the Government doing about it?

According to police statistics, crime has gone down in the last nine years, with offences like burglary down by more than 60,000. Murder rates have not changed in the decade - in fact murders last year were the lowest for 10 years. Violence is up, but the police say that overwhelmingly this represents greater reporting of domestic violence as a result of active campaigns to encourage victims of domestic violence to report those crimes.

The law has become much tougher - longer sentences are being imposed, fewer people are getting bail or parole, and the number of police and their effectiveness in resolving crime means that more criminals are being caught and punished.

That is obvious first from prison numbers. In 10 years they have gone up from 4500 to 7700, a 71 per cent increase. That's why we have had to build four new prisons, and added 2300 beds.

New Zealand is not soft on crime - our imprisonment rate, at 188 per 100,000 is one of the highest in the world. This is well above Australia's (130 per 100,000, Canada's (108), England and Wales (152) and all European countries.

Sentences are much longer as in the proportion of sentence served. Since the Parole Act and Sentencing Act were changed in 2002, for example:

•  The proportion of sentence served for sexual violation has increased about 40 per cent.
• The average non parole period imposed for life sentences is 25 per cent higher today than a decade ago. The percentage of parole applications declined since 2002 has risen from 52 per cent to 72 per cent.
• Non-parole periods for aggravated murder now starts at 17 years, not 10 years as before the 2002 law change.
• Mandatory release at two-thirds of sentence has been abolished.
• Preventative detention, potentially imprisonment for whole of life is now more widely available.
• Bail is harder to get - evidenced by our higher than ever prison remand population.

Cracking down on hard drugs, such as making methamphetamine a Class A drug, and pouring resources into stopping its manufacture or import is critical.

And we need to keep doing more to stop abuse of that other drug, alcohol, which is associated with an overwhelming amount of crime. The Government has been working on proposals for changes to liquor licensing laws, so that for example the social impact on a community is given consideration before a liquor license is granted.

The Government is also working to tackle gangs. The new Organised and Financial Crime Agency will start next month and we have also introduced into Parliament the Organised Crime (Penalties and Sentencing) Bill, which increases the maximum penalty for participation in an organised criminal group from five to 10 years and allows police to use interception warrants to investigate gangs.

On behalf of victims of crime, the Government is undertaking extensive initiatives to strengthen victims' rights and the support they are provided. This includes a Victims' Charter, the provision of a central contact point for victims and a review of services for victims of crime. The Government has also asked the Law Commission to look at the issue of compensation and state-funded reparation.

We have to do more still to address the problem of dysfunctional families where violence and poor parenting breeds not only misery but a new generation with anti-social and criminal tendencies.

Increased policing has been given priority - nearly 2000 more police officers since 1999, and 1000 of those in this parliamentary term. This contrasts with cuts in police funding under the last National government.

Community action also has a role to play and I welcome the efforts of locals to promote zero tolerance of criminal elements in our community who do so much damage.

The law will take its course in relation to those responsible for the deaths of Navtej Singh, Mrs Yang and Joanne Wang. For the rest of us, although nothing will bring these victims back, we all need to work together to prevent crime in our community. That way, at least something positive may come from these tragedies.    

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