Labour is working harder and smarter to keep our communities safe, break the cycle of offending, tackle the root causes of crime, and right historic wrongs. We’re building an effective, inclusive, and humane justice system to better support victims and their families.
Here are some of the steps we’re taking to keep communities safe and ensure our justice system work for everyone:
Keeping our communities safe
We’re hard working to support communities and keep them safe. We’ve already delivered New Zealand’s largest Police workforce ever and we’re making sure Police have the tools and resources they need to do their job properly. To crack down on violent offending and other criminal activity, we’ve introduced new warrant and additional search powers for Police to find and seize weapons from gang members during gang conflict. We’re also continuing to hit offenders where it hurts by taking their guns, cars and motorbikes and making it harder to launder money.
More tools to tackle retail crime
We’re focused on addressing the complex issues that cause offending while also making sure that appropriate consequences are in place. We’ve rolled out a raft of measures to achieve this, including our Better Pathways package, which expands programmes that support people back into education or employment – and it’s already making a real difference.
We’ve also put in place a package of practical measures to tackle retail crime, alongside new initiatives to partner with small businesses and local councils. This includes a new fog cannon subsidy scheme and an extension to the Retail Crime Prevention Fund to help businesses that have been victim to an aggravated robbery, as well as a ram raid, to access better security measures, like CCTV systems, shatter-proof glass and bollards.
Tackling terrorism and gun violence
In the wake of March 15, we developed a raft of initiatives to promote inclusion and safety for all New Zealanders, and we also got serious about guns quickly, fairly, and safely. We banned military-style semi-automatic weapons, increased sentences and penalties for firearms crimes, passed legislation to introduce a firearms registry, and we’re establishing a Firearms Business Unit within Police. Our gun buy-back scheme and police seizures have taken more than 60,000 prohibited firearms out of circulation. We’ve also strengthened counter-terrorism laws and ensured the right legislative tools are available to intervene early and prevent harm.
Reducing reoffending
We’re working to safely reduce the prison population, rehabilitate offenders, and reduce reoffending. We launched Hōkai Rangi, Corrections’ new operational strategy, which will underpin intergenerational change for those in our prisons and their whānau by changing the way Corrections operate on a day to day basis, with a bigger emphasis on wellbeing. One key part of the strategy is the Māori Pathways programme – a ground-breaking series of initiatives underway around the country that are designed in partnership with Māori to reduce reoffending and improve outcomes for whānau. We have launched Māori Pathways in Christchurch Women’s Prison, Northland Regional Corrections Facility and Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison. We’re also replacing Upper Waikeria prison with a modern design, including a 100-bed mental health and addiction facility.
Eliminating family and sexual violence
We’re breaking the cycle of family and sexual violence. We’ve launched Te Aorerekura – our country’s first national strategy and action plan to eliminate family violence and sexual violence. We’ve passed the Family Violence and Family Violence (Amendments) Acts and we’re reforming and investing in the Family Court to give New Zealanders a safe, sensitive platform to have their voice heard. We’re also working to enable our community-led, whānau-centred services to provide sustained and holistic support built around families and whānau and we’re extending early support to help people stop using violence.
Righting wrongs
We’re making sure the justice system continues to live up to its name. We launched a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care, supporting survivors to tell their stories and be heard. We established the Criminal Cases Review Commission to independently investigate alleged miscarriages of justice, and restored the right to vote to all eligible prisoners serving less than three years. We’ve also passed legislation to wipe unjust historic homosexual convictions from criminal records, and have banned harmful and outdated conversion practices.
If re-elected, Labour will continue transforming our justice system and keeping communities safe.
- We’ll roll out Northland’s Te Ara Oranga meth harm pilot to 4,000 more people
- We’ll establish an Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court in Hawke’s Bay
- We’ll support women in prisons through Wahine Māori Pathways
- We’ll strengthen the Māori, Pacific and Ethnic Services branch of Police.
Find more detail on Labour's Law and Order policy here.
Labour’s plan
Labour is already rolling out our plan to keep our communities safe by breaking the cycle of offending, and improving our court system. That’s why we:
- Further increased funding for family violence services, including a boost for services by Māori for Māori, support for victims of elder abuse, and rehabilitation programmes for people who use violence and want to change their behaviour
- Took action to address the backlog of cases across the court system following the COVID-19 lockdown period, with investment from the COVID-19 Recovery Fund
Labour will continue to safely reduce the prison population, through effective crime prevention and rehabilitation strategies, progressive Policing, and improving access to legal services.
Labour will continue to promote positive changes within the court system to improve the experience of victims, including reducing secondary trauma, and improve outcomes.